DeSantis says Trump 'should have come out more forcefully' during Jan. 6
John Bazemore/ AP Photo
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis swiped at Donald Trump over his response to January 6.
- DeSantis said Trump "should have come out more forcefully" during the riot.
- The comments came after Trump indicated that he may be indicted over January 6.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday took a swipe at Donald Trump for not doing more when the Capitol was overrun on January 6, signaling a new line of attack against the former president.
"It was shown how he was in the White House and didn't do anything while things were going on," DeSantis said during a campaign stop in South Carolina. "He could have come out more forcefully."
DeSantis also cautioned that "to try to criminalize that is a different issue entirely," a comment that came after Trump said he was on the verge of getting indicted by special counsel Jack Smith as part of the sprawling January 6 probe. Trump claimed that Smith's team sent his lawyers a target letter, a formal notification that often occurs before an indictment.
"We want to be in a situation where you don't have one side just wanting to put the other side in jail," DeSantis said.
—The Recount (@therecount) July 18, 2023
The House January 6 committee made Trump's inaction during the Capitol riot a key part of its final findings. Lawmakers went to great lengths to recreate the 187 minutes they said during which the then-president failed to do more to get his supporters to stop rioting and leave the Capitol. DeSantis appeared to be referencing some of those findings.
The Florida governor's comments are the most forceful attack he's lobbed against Trump regarding January 6. DeSantis' statement could be a further sign that he is resetting his strategy after months of struggling to pierce Trump's commanding national lead. In the past, DeSantis has mocked the amount of attention paid to January 6. He has also said that he "didn't enjoy seeing it."
Trump's campaign quickly took notice of DeSantis' comments.
"A disqualifying take from an unserious candidate in the last throes of his failed candidacy," Trump campaign spokesman Steven Chung wrote on Twitter.
In response, DeSantis' campaign argued that the governor was being taken out of context.