DeSantis says Trump’s indictments have ‘sucked all the oxygen out of basic education’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the charges against former President Donald J. Trump had “distorted” the Republican presidential primaries and tacitly admitted that the former president’s legal troubles had helped him.

“If I could change one thing, I wish Trump had not been indicted on any of these things,” Mr. DeSantis said. told David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network in an interview that aired Thursday. He added that the charges had “just crowded out so many other things, I think, and sucked all the oxygen out of it.”

With just weeks before Iowans cast the first votes in the race, Mr. DeSantis’ campaign has struggled to gain ground on Mr. Trump and has had to focus more on battling former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for second place.

When Mr. DeSantis entered the race in May, he was widely considered Mr. Trump’s most viable challenger. That reputation faltered as his campaign struggled to articulate an effective message, organize in key early primary states and guard against internal unrest. Last week, the top strategist of Mr. DeSantis’ super PAC, Jeff Roe, resigned from his position.

Mr. DeSantis did not elaborate on his comments during a campaign appearance at a Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Coralville, Iowa, on Thursday morning, and he barely mentioned Mr. Trump. He did not answer questions from reporters after the event.

But Mr. DeSantis has previously expressed frustration with the amount of attention Mr. Trump’s various legal troubles have attracted. “That is not what we want in this election,” Mr. DeSantis told reporters Wednesday during a campaign stop outside Des Moines. “What we want is a referendum on the failure of the Biden administration.”

Trump’s allies and supporters have maintained that the charges against him have only fueled his rise and strengthened his strength as a candidate.

In August, days before Trump was indicted in Georgia over his efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, he boasted to a crowd of supporters in Alabama that he needed “one more indictment” to cement his victory in the race .

Now facing four charges and 91 felonies, Mr. Trump has maintained a significant lead. A new poll from The New York Times and Siena College shows that even as a growing number of Republican voters believe he committed serious federal crimes, they still support his return to office.

And Mr. Trump’s legal troubles continue to grow. On Tuesday, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that he was ineligible for new office due to his actions in connection with the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. The decision could remove him from the state’s primary ballot, but the campaign of Mr Trump has promised to appeal to the US Supreme Court.

In the CBN interview, Mr. DeSantis also named Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought one of the cases against Mr. Trump, accusing him of “perverting justice” and abusing his power.

He also criticized Democratic prosecutors more broadly — and as governor he has taken a particularly tough line on them. He has removed two Democratic prosecutors from their positions in the past two years, citing their positions on abortion and leniency on violent crimes.

Nicholas Nehamas reporting contributed.