Trump said on Saturday he expected to be arrested on Tuesday, prompting several prominent Republicans, including his former vice president, Mike Pence, a potential 2024 rival, to denounce the investigation as an abuse of power. DeSantis, however, remained silent, angering many in Trump's orbit as well as his supporters.
DeSantis has not declared a presidential run but is widely expected to do so and is by far Trump's most formidable Republican challenger.
At a press conference DeSantis criticized Bragg but did not dismiss the case against Trump outright.
"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 said, referring to Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, a long-time funder of progressive causes and often cited by supporters of right-wing causes.
"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.
