Roger Stone defends interview of Nikki Fried, a ‘legitimate critic’ of Ron DeSantis

A MAGA icon isn’t backing down from his decision to interview the chair of the Florida Democrats, saying her critiques of Gov. Ron DeSantis are “legitimate.”

Roger Stone said Friday that Nikki Fried was a “legitimate critic” of the Governor, and said the $10 million slotted to Hope Florida in a political settlement last year, which ended up in part funding a campaign backed by the Governor’s Office to stop a constitutional amendment legalizing adult-use pot, was a “legitimate scandal.”

Stone accused the Governor and First Lady Casey DeSantis of “epic corruption,” alleging that they “have been caught red handed diverting, I believe, $10 million from Medicaid.”

“You know, we go wherever the facts lead us. We go wherever the truth leads us,” Stone told OANN host Matt Gaetz on Friday.

Stone, a staunch Donald Trump loyalist, called Fried a “longtime friend” ahead of her segment on WABC, in which they discussed what Stone said might be the “greatest single corruption scandal in Florida history.” (And it’s worth noting that Gaetz and Fried are longtime friends as well.)

The agreement between Stone and Fried went beyond the allegations regarding Hope Florida.

“I’ve been bringing to light all of this corruption that Ron and Casey and his executive office has been doing for six years. And it’s good to see that the Republican Legislature, specifically in the Florida House, is finally understanding that this is not partisan. You know, uncovering corruption and making sure that we’re holding our elected officials to some type of standards and no one’s (above) the law,” Fried said.

“It’s almost as if Ron and Casey DeSantis think the law doesn’t apply to them,” Stone remarked, before bemoaning how the current administration has “gutted the Sunshine Laws.”

Ahead of the broadcast Thursday night, a DeSantis spox called this evidence of a “contrived, politically motivated astroturf campaign against the Governor and First Lady.” And Florida GOP Chair Evan Power called it “extremely disappointing,” given that Fried “has said horrible things about our President and Governor.”

DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier have said the executive branch did nothing wrong.

“Maybe it’s because it conflicts with their vision of government first. Maybe they just don’t like seeing other people have success in the political sphere. Maybe they have their own agenda or their own ax to grind. But I can tell you, the program has been fantastic,” DeSantis said, calling the House probe into the matter a “total flop.”

Uthmeier said Hope Florida “made its own decision to give generous support to other not-for-profits,” with “some of the organizations already involved in the fight” to keep marijuana illegal for recreational use.

“Hope Florida didn’t do anything wrong,” he said.