DeSantis Refuses to Mention Trump’s Indictment in Speech to NC Republicans
Despite an indictment packed with details of Donald Trump’s alleged schemes to hold on to top secret files in defiance of a grand jury subpoena, Trump’s leading GOP rival, Ron DeSantis, didn’t once mention the 37-count document that could send the former president to prison during a Friday night speech to North Carolina Republicans.
DeSantis Avoids Mention of Trump’s Indictment
The Florida governor barely alluded to the issue at all and introduced the topic by returning to the old standby of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server, which wound up hosting some classified documents.
DeSantis Criticizes Double Standard in Justice
“Gee, as a naval officer, if I had taken classified on my phone, I would have been court-martialed in a New York minute,” he said. “And yet, they seem to not care about that. Is there a different standard for a Democrat secretary of state versus a former Republican president? I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country.”
DeSantis Unwilling to Mention Issue That Could Hurt Trump’s Election Chances
DeSantis, who has been happy to attack Trump for his handling of COVID, his failure to build a wall along the U.S. southern border and other hot-button issues for the Republican primary voting base, appears unwilling to mention an issue that could make Trump unelectable in a general election.
DeSantis Joins Pro-Trump Voices Complaining of Unequal Justice
On Thursday night, two hours and 32 minutes after Trump announced on his personal social media platform that he had been indicted, DeSantis joined the chorus of pro-Trump voices complaining about unequal justice.
DeSantis Runs Through Familiar Stump Speech, Avoids Criticizing Trump
Taking no questions from the 900 or so people filling the Greensboro Sheraton’s main ballroom, DeSantis instead spent his 45 minutes onstage running through his now-familiar stump speech. He bragged about his “wins” in Florida, including a six-week abortion ban, a ban on “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs at state universities and his more general “war on woke.”
DeSantis Urges Republicans to Shake Culture of Losing
The closest DeSantis came to criticizing Trump, who leads him by double digits in polls, was alluding to the bad election results the party has suffered since the former developer and game show host won the White House in 2016.
Trump Faces Multiple Criminal Investigations
Trump is facing two other criminal investigations on top of the two he is already under indictment for: a second probe by the DOJ for his Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt; and a Georgia state investigation for his attempt to overturn the election there.
He is nevertheless seeking the presidency again and leads most polls of the 2024 GOP field.
