DeSantis says Trump is ‘fine with weaponization’ of government against ‘people he doesn’t like’
Owen Girard contributed to this report.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis said that former President Donald Trump is “fine with weaponization” of government against “people he doesn’t like” during an interview with RealClearPolitics.
“But let’s just be clear, Trump is fine with weaponization if it’s against people he doesn’t like,” DeSantis said during the interview.
Trump referenced an ethics complaint filed in Florida by Trump-allied super PAC Make America Great Again, Inc. earlier this year.
The topic of “weaponization” has been central to Trump’s campaign for the 2024 election, he and his supporters arguing the charges leveraged against him in a slew of cases across the U.S. entail the weaponization of government.
Trump was asked earlier in December about “weaponization,” with Fox News host Sean Hannity pondering if Trump would take revenge with weaponization of his own, should he take office in 2025.
“Under no circumstances, you are promising America tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody?” Hannity said.
“Except for day one. I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill,” the former president said.
Trump poked fun at Hannity for pushing him for a direct response.
“You know, he keeps – we love this guy. He says, ‘You’re not gonna be a dictator are you?’ I said, ‘No, no, no – other than day one,’” Trump said. “We’re closing the border, and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator, OK?”
DeSantis also commented on other matters related to Trump and his attempt to be the second ever president elected for an additional, nonconsecutive term, after Grover Cleveland in 1892.
DeSantis said that the former president’s campaign understands that the continuous indictments are “beneficial to him in the primary,” but also set up a “massive legal wringer” when entering the general election.
He admitted that competing against Trump “makes it harder for a guy like me to get oxygen,” but he continues to have faith on the ground in the early primary states.
“That’s just the landscape, and so a lot of that is beyond our control,” he said.
