If elected president in 2024, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has reportedly raised the idea of pardoning former President Donald Trump, who is his main challenger.
“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,” during an interview with Megyn Kelly.
“So that’s a yes,” Kelly replied.
DeSantis cited Richard Nixon’s pardon by President Gerald Ford during the Watergate incident, which resulted in Nixon’s resignation, as a model for a future pardon.
“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?” DeSantis continued.
“And I think the public wants a fresh start. I think they want somebody that’s gonna focus on their issues. We’ve had a lot that’s happened over the last five or six years, you know, I get that. But going forward, we’ve got all these issues that we’ve gotta deal with,” he added.
In a superseding indictment against Trump for his alleged handling of sensitive materials, special counsel Jack Smith unveiled three more accusations on Thursday, raising the total number of charges against the former president for the event to 40.
"Would you commit to pardoning" Trump, asks @MegynKelly.
"I don't think it would be good for the country to have an almost 80-year-old former president go to prison," says Gov. @RonDeSantis.
FULL 50-minute interview airs tomorrow at NoonET. Subscribe:https://t.co/Y12z2uKGMb pic.twitter.com/2geQDBcsN2
— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) July 28, 2023
Trump is charged with conspiring to attempt to erase surveillance footage at his Mar-a-Lago estate with Mar-a-Lago employee Carlos De Oliveira and Trump’s additional co-defendant, Walt Nauta.
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