DeSantis floats Trump pardon

Says age and status matter, not guilt or innocence

Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis told journalist Megyn Kelly he would pardon Donald Trump, due to his age and status as a former president—regardless of proven guilt or the severity of his crimes.

“I don’t think it would be good for the country to have an almost 80-year-old former president go to prison,” he said.

Ron DeSantis on The Megyn Kelly Show, July 28, 2023

Trump—the first former president in U.S. history to be indicted—is facing serious federal charges.

Four indictments were brought against Trump today by the federal grand jury in the District of Columbia for: conspiracy to defraud the United States “by using dishonesty, fraud, and deceit to impair, obstruct, and defeat” the federal government in certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election; conspiracy to “corruptly obstruct and impede” the presidential certification proceeding; conspiracy against “the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted”; and finally, like defendants charged with storming the Capitol on January 6th, Trump is charged with obstruction of an official proceeding.

Trump was also already facing separate federal charges under the Espionage Act for willfully retaining sensitive national defense documents. In connection with stashing over 300 classified documents in boxes at Mar-a-Lago, Trump was charged with 37 felonies on June 9, 2023.

These are not personal or local crimes that affect few persons. The indictments allege that the former president attempted to thwart an election in order to hold on to power, attacked the constitutional function of Congress, and endangered our national security.

DeSantis is telling voters he cares nothing about the seriousness of these crimes, and that he prefers dangling favors to the former president as a bargaining chip to get into the White House.

Republicans have traditionally championed the rule of law, where accountability does not end for elected officials, current or former. They used to know that contrary to the wishes of the privileged, the law applies to everyone.