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Ron DeSantis removes any doubt about his stance on pardoning Trump if elected POTUS

December 31, 2023 | | Print Article

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed on Friday that he would pardon former President Donald Trump were he elected president.

Asked by reporters about a pardon for Trump, he said he’d “already” answered that question “long ago,” according to NBC News.

“I think we got to move on as a country and, you know, like Ford did to Nixon, because the divisions are just not in the country’s interest,” he added.

Pressed once more by reporters, DeSantis repeated his earlier line, saying, “Yeah, I said that months ago.”

NBC News later asked the governor’s spokesperson if his replies meant that he would indeed pardon Trump.

“Correct,” the spokesperson reportedly replied on Saturday.

It’s not clear why all this questioning was even necessary given the number of times that DeSantis has previously addressed this matter.

When asked about a pardon during an interview over the summer with podcaster Megyn Kelly, he 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.”

In fairness to his many critics, folks did complain at the time about the answer not being direct enough.

Look:

DeSantis’ critics also say fellow presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has been more forward about her plans. They may have a point.

Asked at a New Hampshire campaign event this Thursday about a potential pardon, she delivered a direct reply.

“I would pardon Trump if he is found guilty,” she said. “A leader needs to think about what’s in the best interests of the country.”

“What’s in the best interests of the country is not to have an 80-year-old man sitting in jail that continues to divide our country. What’s in the best interest of the country would be to pardon him so that we can move on as a country and no longer talk about him,” she added.

Listen:

Dovetailing back to DeSantis, he first hinted at a possible pardon for Trump, as well as Jan. 6th riot defendants, back in May. He made the remarks during an appearance on “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show.”

“The DOJ and FBI have been weaponized,” he said. “We see that. We see it in a variety of contexts. And so what I’m going to do is … I will have folks that will get together and look at all these cases, who are people who are victims of weaponization or political targeting, and we will be aggressive at issuing pardons.”

“We’re going to find examples where government’s been weaponized against disfavored groups, and we will apply relief as appropriate. But it will be done on a case-by-case basis,” he added.

Host Clay Travis then asked the governor whether he might pardon Trump as well.

“I would say any example of disfavored treatment based on politics or weaponization would be included in that review, no matter how small or how big,” he replied.

Vivek Saxena
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