DeSantis Gets Shredded by All Sides With Tweet Bashing Trump Indictment and Admitting He Hasn’t Even Read It

How’s that campaign reboot going, Governor?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) managed to make no one happy with a tweet he posted criticizing the latest indictment to come down against former President Donald Trump, and invited additional ridicule with his admission that he had not even read it.

Trump was indicted Tuesday on four counts by a grand jury convened by Special Counsel Jack Smith, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights. The 45-page indictment, unsealed on Tuesday, spells out damning allegations regarding the ex-president’s alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and actions during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

This is Trump’s second federal indictment and third overall, and with the Fulton County DA continuing an investigation into his efforts to interfere in the Georgia elections, it might not be his last this year.

DeSantis, whose campaign claims to be attempting a reboot as his polling numbers have fallen steadily further and further behind the frontrunner Trump, tweeted his reaction to the indictment:

As President, I will end the weaponization of government, replace the FBI Director, and ensure a single standard of justice for all Americans.

While I’ve seen reports, I have not read the indictment. I do, though, believe we need to enact reforms so that Americans have the right to remove cases from Washington, DC to their home districts.

Washington, DC is a “swamp” and it is unfair to have to stand trial before a jury that is reflective of the swamp mentality.

One of the reasons our country is in decline is the politicization of the rule of law. No more excuses—I will end the weaponization of the federal government.

The tweet drew swift and harsh condemnation, both for his admission that he had not read the indictment but was opining on it anyway and for the substance of the reforms he vowed to make “As President” — “end the weaponization of government” and allow Americans to remove cases from D.C. — drawing mockery from the full spectrum of MAGA Republican Trump supporters, Never Trumpers skeptical of his efforts to drive to the right of Trump, and skeptical liberal commentators and members of the media.

To be clear, DeSantis’ tweet was posted at 5:51 pm ET. Multiple journalists, including CNN anchor Jake Tapper, were sharing a link to the indictment shortly before that (the below tweet was posted at 5:47 pm ET).

Regardless, it’s now been nearly three hours since the indictment was unsealed and DeSantis, a graduate of Harvard Law School, has had plenty of time to read the indictment and make a comment based on actual knowledge of the charges and allegations contained therein.

He has chosen not to do so, posting no tweets since his 5:51 pm missive.

Zachery Henry, the deputy communications director for Vivek Ramaswamy (a fellow GOP presidential candidate who has been slightly surpassing DeSantis in some recent polls), took a swipe at DeSantis over not reading the indictment that “dropped 15 mins *before* you tweeted this.”

Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington was even harsher, tweeting just before 8 pm ET to ask DeSantis if he’d “[h]ad a chance to read this BS from the regime trying to interfere in the election by removing your number one political opponent on sham charges (for the third time) yet?”

“How do you beat the deep state if your goals are the same as theirs?” she added.

Multiple other prominent Trump supporters, including Caitlin Jenner, Seb Gorka, and Leo Terrell, also blasted DeSantis’ tweet.

The Florida governor got no support from Trump critics, whether they came from the left or from the former GOP/Never Trump contingent. Several, including The Bulwark’s Tim Miller, took aim at the substance of DeSantis’ tweet as well, pointing out that Trump had already been indicted in his two home jurisdictions of Florida and New York, making the suggestion of removing cases from D.C. somewhat of a moot point.

Numerous others mocked DeSantis’ claimed opposition to the “weaponization of government,” in light of his own uses of state government power to battle Disney and other perceived foes.

In general, there was some consensus that DeSantis’ tweet was the sort of “flailing” and “awkward” message that was contributing to the stagnation of his campaign.

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