Ron DeSantis Says Florida Won't Help Extradite His Rival Trump

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vowed to not assist in any extradition request for Donald Trump after a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict the former president on Thursday.

Trump's criminal indictment is related to an investigation of a hush money payout made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels during Trump's 2016 presidential election. Specific charges against Trump have not been announced at this time.

DeSantis, expected to run against Trump for the GOP nomination in 2024, previously denounced Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's probe into Trump's alleged involvement in the payout scheme, claiming that the district attorney's office had "weaponized ... to impose a political agenda on society."

The Florida governor echoed his previous statements in a tweet following Trump's indictment, writing, "The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head. It is un-American."

"The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has consistently bent the law to downgrade felonies and to excuse criminal misconduct" he continued. "Yet, now he is stretching the law to target a political opponent."

"Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with this Soros-backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda."

Bragg said in a statement Thursday evening that his office had "contacted Mr. Trump's attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.'s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal."

Trump will have to leave his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, in the following days to be fingerprinted and processed in Manhattan.

While DeSantis has yet to announce his official candidacy for 2024, he has faced consistent attacks from Trump in recent months. In an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan last week, DeSantis noted that Trump "used to say how great of a governor I was. And then I win a big victory and all of a sudden, he had different opinions, so you can take that for what it's worth.

"At the end of the day, one of the reasons I've been successful as governor is I don't really pay attention to a lot of the background noise," he added.

Trump has largely held the lead in most hypothetical matchups with DeSantis, and has even seen a boost in polling numbers since rumors about a potential indictment from Bragg's investigation began to swirl.

In a Fox News poll published Wednesday, Republican primary voters selected Trump over DeSantis by 30 percentage points, with 54 percent of respondents showing their support for Trump. In a similar poll in February, 43 percent of GOP voters had selected Trump for a hypothetical 2024 race, compared to 28 percent choosing DeSantis that same month.

Newsweek has contacted Trump's press team via email for comment.

Update 3/30/23, 8:20 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and background.