DeSantis blasts DA Bragg as a ‘Soros-funded prosecutor’ in Trump probe

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday blasted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as a “Soros-funded prosecutor” in his first public remarks about former President Donald Trump’s claim that he will be arrested on Tuesday. 

DeSantis, a likely main rival to Trump as he seeks the 2024 Republican nomination, also provoked Trump’s Make America Great Again campaign by saying he wouldn’t get involved “any way” in the case.

Addressing Trump’s claim of an indictment, DeSantis said he has only seen the “rumors swirl” but no facts “so I don’t know what’s going to happen.” 

“But I do know this: The Manhattan district attorney is a Soros-funded prosecutor, and so he, like other Soros-funded prosecutors, they weaponize their office to impose a political agenda on society at the expense of the rule of law and public safety,” DeSantis told reporters during a news conference on Monday.

The governor ripped Bragg for downgrading half of felonies to misdemeanors and putting the lives of New Yorkers at risk. 

“He says he doesn’t want to even have jail time for the vast, vast majority of crimes. And what we’ve seen in Manhattan is we’ve seen the crime rate go up, and we’ve seen citizens become less safe,” DeSantis said.  

He said Bragg and other Soros-backed district attorneys are a “menace to society” for ignoring crime while coddling criminals “and that hurts a lot of people every single day.”

He went on to say that he would not get involved in the case, including extradition against Trump, a fellow Floridian. 

“I have no interest in getting involved in some type of manufactured circus by some Soros DA. He’s trying to do a political spectacle. He’s trying to virtue signal for his base. I’ve got real issues I got to deal with here in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said. 

​Trump’s ​Make America Great Again ​campaign​ put out a statement Monday afternoon to respond to DeSantis’ comments, saying “Ron is wrong.”​

​”This is a real issue,” the statement said, adding that DeSantis “doesn’t think that the weaponization of our legal system is a ​’​real issue.​’”​

“​Democrats abusing the justice system to target Republicans is a real issue that impacts all Americans. Our country won’t survive if the courts are weaponized to imprison political opponents​,” the statement said.​The campaign also called attention to a tweet from Donald Trump Jr. ​

“​So DeSantis thinks that Dems weaponizing the law to indict President Trump is a ‘manufactured circus’ & isn’t a ‘real issue.’ Pure weakness. Now we know why he was silent all weekend. He’s totally owned by Karl Rove, Paul Ryan & his billionaire donors. 100% Controlled Opposition​,” Donald Jr. said. 

Trump in a series of postings on his Truth Social messaging platform over the weekend said he was going to be arrested on Tuesday by Bragg over a $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

“THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” Trump said in all-caps message Saturday.  

Trump’s former attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen paid Daniels to secure her silence over a sexual encounter she claimed she had with the former president in 2016. 

During his news conference, DeSantis threw shade on Trump over the payment.

“I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair. I just I can’t speak to that,” he said, drawing a laugh from the audience. 

Trump, who proclaimed that he did nothing wrong over the weekend, also hit Bragg over his connection to Soros, the billionaire Democratic donor, in a Monday posting.

“Just Out: District Attorney Alvin Bragg received in EXCESS OF ONE MILLION DOLLARS from Radical Left Enemy of ‘TRUMP,’ George Soros. Bragg is also very close to the Clinton Campaign,” he said.

“Republicans and Conservatives are more UNITED than they have been in many years. Even Democrats don’t like what’s going on with the Manhattan D.A. This is a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt of all time!” he added.