Presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) just seemed to suggest that he would, if he becomes president, pardon former President Donald Trump.
DeSantis suggested as much during a recent interview that he participated in on The Megyn Kelly Show.
DeSantis is not only running for the presidency in 2024 but, on the Republican side, he is Trump's top rival in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
That being said, DeSantis, according to Real Clear Politics, currently trails Trump, on average, by 34 percentage points.
During the interview, Kelly asked DeSantis this: "Given your views on the weaponization of government, would you commit to pardoning [Trump] on federal charges against him?"
DeSantis replied, "Well, what I've said is very simple. I'm going to do what's right for the country. I don't think it would be good for the country to have an almost 80-year-old former president go to prison . . ."
At this point, Kelly jumped in, saying, "So, that's a yes."
DeSantis, however, ignored Kelly's remark and continued with his answer, saying:
It doesn't seem like it would be a good thing. And, I look at like, you know, Ford pardoned Nixon, took some heat for it, but at the end of the day, it's like, do we want to move forward as a country? Or do we want to be mired in these past controversies? And, I think the public wants a fresh start. I think they want somebody who is going to focus on their issues.
DeSantis's response did not end there. He continued, and, at one point, he said, "I've also said this on ending weaponization: we will wield the pardon power if normal Americans have been targeted unfairly."
As can be seen, DeSantis refused to come out and say clearly that he will pardon Trump. Instead, he left it to Americans to read between the lines.
Why he refused to answer the question directly is unclear. The basic answer has to be that he believes that it is not politically expedient for him to do so.
Whatever the case may be, he did seem to suggest that he would pardon Trump.
Trump is currently facing falsifying business records charges that have been brought against him by the George Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. He is also facing charges that have been brought against him by Special Counsel Jack Smith about Trump's alleged improper retention of classified records. In addition to these charges, there is speculation that Trump may soon face an indictment in Georgia for allegedly interfering in the administration of Georgia's 2020 general election and that Trump may soon face another charge from the federal government for his alleged role in the Capitol protest of Jan. 6, 2021.
NBC News reports:
Four GOP contenders challenging Trump for the presidential nomination next year — Perry Johnson, Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley and Larry Elder — have said they would pardon Trump if elected, or are leaning that way. Two candidates, Chris Christie and Will Hurd, said they wouldn't pardon Trump or are leaning that way.
