DeSantis criticizes GOP primary for ‘distorting’ Trump indictments

Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis expressed his concern that the four indictments against Donald Trump have altered the dynamics of the Republican presidential primary campaign, energizing the former president’s supporters and hindering challengers from gaining momentum.

DeSantis, in an interview Thursday in Iowa with David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network, stated, “If I could have one thing change, I wish Trump hadn’t been indicted on any of this stuff.”

Before Trump was indicted by Democrat Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, DeSantis was trailing by 15.1 percentage points (46.8% to 31.7%) in the FiveThirtyEight average polling. However, since the indictments, Trump’s lead has grown to 58.1 percentage points (62% to 11.9%) over DeSantis, with the Iowa caucuses kicking off the GOP primary season just 25 days away.

DeSantis criticized the cases, particularly by Alvin Bragg, and alleged that they have helped Trump in the primary season by crowding out other issues and drawing attention away from other candidates.

He also expressed skepticism about Trump’s ability to defeat President Joe Biden in the general election despite recent polls showing Trump leading Biden overall and in several swing states. DeSantis stated, “The media has never wanted to show him ever leading up until very recently, so why are they doing that? I think they’re trying to create a narrative that scares Democrats to replace Biden and also tries to convince Republicans to go ahead and nominate Trump.”

Newsmax reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.