'Looking forward:' Ron DeSantis downplays campaign problems and Trump's indictments
WASHINGTON - Seeking to retool his presidential bid, Ron DeSantis took to cable news Tuesday to play down his campaign's problems and frontrunner Donald Trump's legal issues.
“I wanna focus on looking forward - I don’t wanna look back,” DeSantis told CNN in an interview scheduled amid falling poll numbers and organizational issues facing the Florida governor.
Saying he was an underdog during his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, DeSantis said: “They’ve been saying that I’ve been doing poorly for my whole time as governor, basically."
'Criminalizing political differences'
Speaking shortly after Trump announced he may soon be indicted again, DeSantis criticized Trump's actions regarding the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021; he also accused government authorities of "weaponizing" law enforcement against the former president.
Trump has already been indicted twice this year: a federal case in Florida over classified documents and a state case in New York regarding hush money. DeSantis was particularly critical of the New York case, saying prosecutors are stretching the law to implicate the former president.
"So here's the problem," DeSantis told CNN. "This country is going down the road of criminalizing political differences."
Trump announced on his Truth Social website he had received a "target letter" regarding the investigation into efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden. The investigation also centers on the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.
The former president enjoys huge national poll leads against DeSantis and other Republican challengers; DeSantis told CNN he is doing better in individual state polls.
DeSantis campaign problems
DeSantis appeared on CNN amid falling poll numbers, high spending rates, and layoffs of campaign staff members.
DeSantis said he is building a campaign for the long term, right up to the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 15.
Tactics include voter turnout operations in key states, particularly early state contests like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
"This is a state-by-state process," DeSantis said.
Moving forward, DeSantis also plans to draw policy contrasts with Trump on issues like border security and the economy. The governor also plans to speak more with the mainstream media, such as CNN.
The Trump challenger sat down with CNN during a visit to South Carolina, where he filed for the state primary in February and delivered a speech decrying "woke" programs in the U.S. military.
'Come out more forcefully'
Speaking early in the day with reporters in South Carolina, DeSantis said Trump should have acted quicker and "come out more forcefully" against rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“I think it was shown how he was in the White House and didn’t do anything while things were going on," DeSantis said. "He should have come out more forcefully…but to try to criminalize that that’s a different issue entirely.”
Trump allies denounced DeSantis' criticism. Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung called it "a disqualifying take from an unserious candidate in the last throes of his failed candidacy."
Christie, Hutchinson
Other candidates further back in the Republican pack criticized Trump and said he has brought his legal problems on himself.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, also a former prosecutor, said he wants to see a specific Jan. 6 indictment before commenting on the merits of the case against Trump.
On Twitter, Christie added that, case or no case, "his conduct on January 6th proves he doesn’t care about our country & our Constitution."
Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., a former governor, congressman, and prosecutor based in Arkansas, said Trump's handling of Jan. 6 disqualify him from the presidency. He dismissed Trump's cries of victimhood.
"The real victims of January 6th were our democracy, our rule of law, and those Capitol Police officers who worked valiantly to protect our Capitol," he said.
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Trump's legal problems will dominate the campaign. "That's why I am running - because we need a new generational leader," Haley told Fox News. "We can't keep dealing with this drama."