Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday said what many pro-Trumpers refuse to admit: that at some point within the next year, former President Donald Trump could be convicted of multiple felonies and accordingly may hand the election to the current Democratic incumbent.
Yet the Republican governor said he would still support Trump as the party’s nominee if GOP voters want that.
DeSantis appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” and Analyst Willie Geist asked him if he would back “a man that’s convicted of, say, attempting to overturn the 2020 election or taking nuclear secrets back to his beach club. Do you actually still, as we sit here today, believe that person should be president?”
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DeSantis then reminded Geist that he signed a pledge to support the Republican nominee, whoever that is. “That pledge is what it is,” he added.
Yet, said DeSantis, “Now, do I think somebody, under those circumstances, could get elected president? The answer is no. That will not happen.”
DeSantis offered that Republican voters would understand the perils wrought by Trump’s four felony indictments in multiple states, adding up to 91 total counts of alleged wrongdoing, as time for voting draws closer.
“It would be fatal in a general election,” the governor added of a Trump conviction. “And I don’t think the party should nominate in that situation.”
Yet he reiterated that he signed the pledge and intends to stand by it.
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“When I signed the pledge, you never know what’s gonna happen. It’s a crazy process. … My point of view on it was, you know, I’m participating in this process. I’ve got the plan to win. We’re gonna win. At the same time, you can’t just take your ball and go home.”
“You can’t, on the one hand, say the country is in decline, [President Joe] Biden’s failing, and on the other hand say I’m just gonna pout if things don’t go my way. So that was kinda my rationale for doing it.”
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