Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) — one of the few House Republicans to endorse Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s 2024 bid — joked that DeSantis should get indicted in order to boost his poll numbers among voters.
“I’ve said we gotta figure out, we got to find some judge in Florida that’ll indict DeSantis quick, to close this indictment gap,” Massie said in an interview with the in The Miami Herald. “It’s a truism that anytime someone is being persecuted, their camp rallies to their defense.”
Massie is hinting at the mounting indictments former President Donald Trump is facing and the repeated claims he made suggesting his legal problems helps his poll numbers by riling up his base.
Desantis, whose campaign is reportedly facing financial issues, is struggling in the polls. A Monday New York Times/Siena College poll of likely Republican primary voters found just 17% of those polled would vote for DeSantis if the election were today, while 54% selected Trump.
“It’s very difficult,” Massie responded, when asked how DeSantis and the mountain of other Republican presidential candidates should proceed as MAGA support grows for Trump as his legal troubles mount.
“I feel sympathy for Trump. And I understand why people are gravitating towards him in this time,” Massie said. “It’s a referendum on the swamp versus Trump, and it’s seen as, if you don’t support Trump in this moment, some of the voters see it as being swampy. If you’re not with him, you must be with the other guys. And it makes it tough.”
Massie added that he thinks the Florida Governor is taking the right approach by standing by the former President and showing him sympathy as his legal perils grow.
“It feels weird to say this, but I’m just going to say it. I think Ron DeSantis has to weather out these indictments. I think Ron’s taken the right path, which is to be sympathetic to the former president’s plight,” Massie said.
