Ron DeSantis made a baffling claim in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network this week, insisting that Donald Trump’s indictments gave him an advantage in the GOP primary.
The Florida governor’s assertion was in response to a question from chief political correspondent David Brody, who asked whether he had any regrets over how he was running his campaign.
DeSantis, who remained fixated on Trump, insisted the former president’s charges “distorted the primary.”
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“It also just crowded out I think so much other stuff, and it’s sucked out a lot of oxygen.”
“That’s interesting,” Brody replied. “You’re saying it made him stronger in a way and it made it tougher for you and others.”
“I think for the primary, it distorted,” DeSantis said. “Yeah, it distorted.”
The governor also claimed that “Democrats” and the “media” have a “plan on this” for the general election.
“I wish Trump hadn’t been indicted on any of this stuff. I mean, honestly, from Alvin Bragg on. I've criticized the cases,” he said. “I think, someone like a Bragg would not have brought that case if it was anyone other than Donald Trump and so someone like that is distorting justice, which is bad.”
The interview comes as a recent national GOP primary poll from Quinnipiac University released on Wednesday showed that among Republican voters, 67 percent support Trump, while DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley are in a distant second, with 11 percent.
