NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Republican presidential candidate said is unlikely to be elected president again if convicted in
DeSantis made the comments in an interview with CBS News that aired Wednesday night. The Florida governor has sharpened his critiques of Trump, seeking to paint him as unelectable as he
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think even before all this that the president, the former president, should have run again,鈥� DeSantis said in the interview. 鈥淭here鈥檚 too many voters, who, he鈥檚 a dealbreaker for them.鈥�
DeSantis, who is in a distant second in the race, has gradually hardened his criticisms of the former president as he runs against him. He joined almost all of the GOP candidates in saying they would support Trump, the frontrunner, as the party鈥檚 nominee, if he鈥檚 convicted.
But in the new interview, DeSantis said Trump likely can鈥檛 win if he鈥檚 convicted.
鈥淚 think the chance of getting elected after being convicted of a felony is as close to zero as you can get,鈥� he said.
Trump faces 91 charges across four criminal cases, two filed in federal court in Washington and Florida and two in state courts in New York and Georgia. The cases are related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, allegations he mishandled classified documents and hush money payments made to hide claims of extramarital affairs.
DeSantis has in the past made comments agreeing with Trump鈥檚 statements suggesting the cases against him are politically motivated, with the governor saying the criminal justice system was being politicized.
Trump鈥檚 campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement that 鈥淒eSantis knows he has no shot of ever becoming the nominee鈥� he is slipping to third place after all 鈥� but cozying up to Never Trumpers and lunatic Democrats is an all-time low for him, almost as low as his poll numbers.鈥�
DeSantis also criticized Trump for adding to the national debt as president. the gross national debt by $7.4 trillion over the Trump years.
DeSantis said both parties have added to the debt and 鈥淩epublicans talk big when they鈥檙e out of power, but when they get in, they don鈥檛 put their money where their mouth is.鈥�
鈥淒onald Trump added almost $8 trillion to the debt in four years. He ran saying he was going to eliminate the national debt,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e did make that promise, and they did the opposite.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 campaign did not respond to DeSantis鈥� comments on the debt.
Michelle L. Price, The Associated Press
