Ron DeSantis will still support Donald Trump if he’s convicted of crimes

On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Gov. Ron DeSantis wouldn’t renounce a promise he made to back Donald Trump if he’s the GOP nominee — regardless of whether the former President is a convicted felon or not.

“I signed a pledge, and that pledge is what it is,” DeSantis said. He is referring to a promise to the Republican National Committee in August, ahead of the first presidential debate, to support the party’s eventual nominee.

“I acknowledge and accept that if I fail to sign this pledge or if I participate in any debate that has not been sanctioned by the Republican National Committee, I will not be eligible to participate in any further Republican National Committee sanctioned debates,” it read, as noted contemporaneously by the New York Post.

Though DeSantis has agreed to support Trump if nominated, he also believes that Trump is bound to lose under the weight of his legal challenges, which amount to four indictments in a variety of venues on 91 criminal counts.

“Now, do I think somebody under those circumstances could get elected President? The answer is no, that will not happen. I think that Republican voters will understand that as we get closer to voting, but it is, it will be fatal in a General Election,” DeSantis said. “I don’t think the party should nominate in that situation.”

“However, you know, I signed the pledge, I’m a Republican. I don’t think it’s going to come to that and I think we’ll be, we’ll get the job done like we need to,” he added. “But the reality is I signed it and that’s what I did.”

Elsewhere in the interview, DeSantis made the argument (as he has before) about the former President being a diminished figure compared to his first campaign eight years ago.

“If you go back to 2015, 2016, the Trump of that time, he was clicking as a candidate. I mean, he had energy, he was out there riffing. He was controversial, but in a way that was edgy,” DeSantis said, contrasting that figure to a “different Donald Trump in 2023.”

“I don’t think he’s got the same energy I don’t think he’s got the same pizazz. 2015 and ’16 was about America First. I think this campaign is more about Trump first and it’s more about his issues and I think we’ve got to focus on the American people’s issues.”