Rep. Matt Gaetz says Florida Governor Ron DeSantis shouldn’t allow Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who received funding from billionaire financier George Soros, to stage what many see as the politically motivated arrest of 45th President Donald Trump, who remains a resident of the state.
The Florida politician said DeSantis should act to stop any sort of extradition of Trump, who may be arrested due to 2016 “hush money” payments in an unprecedented move by Bragg and his office.
“If I were Governor of Florida, I would not allow any Floridian to be hauled before a Soros-backed prosecutor in a blue city over politics. I wouldn’t make an exception to not protect the President of the United States,” Gaetz told News Nation in a clip he later posted online.
“DeSantis should be standing in the breach to stop any sort of extradition of President Trump from the state of Florida,” said Gaetz. “The fact that he’s not doing so puts every Floridian at risk who could be the subject of a false allegation.”
If I were Governor of Florida, I would not allow any Floridian to be hauled before a Soros-backed prosecutor in a blue city over politics. I wouldn’t make an exception to not protect the President of the United States.
Ron DeSantis should be standing in the breach to stop any… pic.twitter.com/jeuzxKCiGB
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) March 22, 2023
In the face of a potential arrest, President Trump remains critical of the Florida Governor and potential 2024 Republican challenger for “not working for the people of Florida as he should be” and being “too busy chatting” with Piers Morgan.
“While I am fighting against Radical Left Lunatics, Persecutors, and unfair Prosecutors who want to destroy us all, Ron DeSanctimonious is not working for the people of Florida as he should be, he is too busy chatting with a Ratings Challenged TV Host from England, desperately trying to rescue his failing Campaign—But it’s my fault, I put him there!” the former president wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday.
Trump’s remarks come after DeSantis was widely perceived by Trump supporters to be publicly abandoning the former president over the pending arrest.
When asked if he would have any role in attempting to prevent Trump’s extradition to New York if charges are brought against him, DeSantis claimed he had “no interest” in the matter, laughing it off as not a “real issue.”
Ron DeSantis is asked about a possible Trump indictment. He immediately blasts the Manhattan DA as a “Soros-funded prosecutor.” But then he also says, “look, I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair.” pic.twitter.com/g63X2U3xlk
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 20, 2023
Since DeSantis’ remarks about Trump’s potential criminal challenge, the Florida Governor has seen his poll numbers drop to lows unseen since December.
“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) received just 26 percent support in the latest GOP presidential poll from Morning Consult — the lowest number he’s hit in the survey since December,” reported The Hill.
“DeSantis, who has not entered the GOP primary but is expected to do so, trailed former President Trump, who won 54 percent, by 28 percentage points in the new poll published on Tuesday.”
Bragg, the local New York DA overseeing Trump’s possible arrest, is currently facing calls for his disbarment after allegedly withholding vast amounts of exculpatory evidence from the Grand Jury.
“Michael Cohen is far from solid evidence:” Cohen’s former legal advisor Robert Costello attacked his ex-client’s credibility as the “star witness” in the hush money case against former President Donald Trump. More: https://t.co/crLKBCYjsW pic.twitter.com/TYRpvSmR9W
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) March 20, 2023
The revelation came after Bob Costello, the former attorney for ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, raised questions about Cohen’s reliability as a witness against and claimed Bragg withheld hundreds of pages of documents and emails from the Grand Jury.
“Michael Cohen is far from solid evidence,” added Costello. “This guy, by any prosecutors’ standard—and I used to be deputy chief of the criminal division in the Southern District of New York—I wouldn’t have touched a guy like Michael Cohen, especially if he’s a convicted perjurer.”
Someone else I thought I could trust. Sad to hear him say this.
I couldn’t believe Gorka called Desantis a bunch of names the other day.
…and why the hell would Trump expect any support from him, when all Trump has done is piss on him and call him names?