Ron DeSantis Says Trump Indictments ‘Distorted the Primary’

Florida governor Ron DeSantis, whose campaign outlook is grim just a few weeks out from Iowa, has reflected that the indictments of Donald Trump “distorted the primary” and “sucked out a lot of oxygen.”

A few weeks ago, I had observed that, looking back at polls before and after Trump got indicted, it’s pretty clear the charges had a rallying effect, turning a competitive race in which Trump was the front-runner into a wipeout in which rivals stand only the most remote chances of beating him. Now, the guy once seen as his strongest rival is basically acknowledging this.

With his chances of a comeback dwindling, DeSantis was asked by David Brody about his one regret about running this year, and his focus immediately went to the Trump indictments. He said, “I would say if I could have one thing changed, I wish Trump hadn’t been indicted on any of this stuff.” He argued that in addition to being bad on the merits, the indictments “just crowded out, I think so much other stuff. And it’s sucked out a lot of oxygen.”

While Trump has benefitted from the indictments in the primary, DeSantis warned that the general election would be different: “Now in a general election, I think the Democrats have a plan on this, I think the media has a plan on this. And I think if it gets to the point where six months from now Trump is the presumptive nominee, and he’s having to go through all this, they have a plan for how they are going to ride this out.”