After Desantis Dings Trump Over ‘Hush Money’ Payments to Adult Film Star, Trump Hits Back

Just hours after DeSantis spoke to reporters about Trump’s potential indictment, the former president violently lashed back at his potential challenger for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

After days of silence over the anticipated first-ever indictment of a former president, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed Donald Trump’s predicament with a comment that appeared not only to mock, but also to refuse any involvement in his former GOP ally’s legal scrape. 

On Monday, DeSantis made his first comments to reporters on Trump’s likely indictment related to an investigation into a $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election cycle.

“He’s trying to do a political spectacle […] I’ve got real issues I’ve got to deal with here in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said of the Manhattan district attorney, adding that he will not get involved in Trump’s potential extradition if the former president were indicted.

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Under current Florida law, the governor can intervene in an extradition matter if it is contested. 

“We’re not getting involved in it in any way,” DeSantis said.

The former president would likely surrender if he is indicted, Trump’s lawyers have told media outlets.

Trump Strikes Back

Trump was quick to lash back at his potential challenger for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Just hours after DeSantis’ declaration, Trump posted in his Truth Social post an old photo of a 23-year-old DeSantis beaming between three women of indeterminate age. Although their faces are blurred out to protect their privacy, one of the females in the picture can be seen holding a brown glass bottle.

“Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known, when he’s unfairly and illegally attacked by a woman, even classmates that are ‘underage’ (or possibly a man!),” Trump wrote. “I’m sure he will want to fight these misfits just like I do!”

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The photo was taken after the 2001 to 2002 academic year that DeSantis spent as a teacher at Darlington School before attending Harvard Law School, The New York Times reported in November.

That same picture had been used by Trump in February, with a caption that accused “Ron DeSanctimonious,” the nickname coined by Trump for the governor, of  “grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher.” This was followed by the vomit emoji. 

There have been no accusations against DeSantis of having an affair or of being sexually involved with men or minors. At least 26 women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct, including rape. Trump has denied all the allegations.