(Newsworthy.news) – A proposal from Republicans that taxpayers should foot the legal bill for former president Donald Trump was recently shot down by Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida and former GOP presidential candidate.
In a January 22 social media post, DeSantis blasted a since-withdrawn bill that would have enabled taxpayer money to be spent paying for legal bills racked up by federal charges brought against Trump.
The popular Florida governor was responding to a headline about the bill posted on X, formerly Twitter, by Politico. DeSantis bluntly stated that not all Republicans were willing to use taxpayer dollars to pay for Trump’s court fees—including himself—and pointed out that he “wields the veto pen.”
The bill was introduced by Florida Sen. Ileana Garcia, giving veto power to DeSantis as the state governor. The proposal was withdrawn by Garcia less than two hours after the governor’s post. Had it been approved, the bill would have set aside up to $5 million of money from Florida taxpayers as “grants” to be given to those who the bill described as “victims of political discrimination,” including the former president.
Garcia explained that her motivation for introducing the legislation was to combat “political weaponization” onslaughts launched by liberals against conservatives. She said that her reason for withdrawing the bill is that Trump is now the “frontrunner” in the GOP primary for the 2024 presidential election and that “he can handle himself.”
Trump, who is facing a total of 91 criminal charges after being indicted four different times, has maintained a stark lead in the GOP race despite his legal battles and numerous appearances in court during his campaign.
The bill was suggested to Garcia in November 2023 by Jimmy Patronis, chief financial officer of the state of Florida, who sought to minimize what he views as unjust ramifications Trump faces from the federal justice system.
The criticism from DeSantis comes a day after he announced he had dropped out of the Republican race for the presidential nomination, instead giving an endorsement to Trump.
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