Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pledged on Friday to seek the repeal of President Trump’s signature First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill that sought to reduce recidivism, allowed nonviolent prisoners to shorten their sentences, and reduced mandatory minimum sentences.
“Under the Trump administration – he passed a bill, basically a jailbreak bill, it’s called the First Step Act. It got dangerous people out of jail who have now reoffended and really , really hurt a number of people,” DeSantis said in an interview with the Daily Wire.
“So one of the things I would like to do as president is go to Congress and ask for the repeal of the First Step Act. If you’re in jail, you should serve your time. And the idea That they release people who weren’t rehabilitated early so they can prey on people in our society is a huge, huge mistake,” he added.
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DeSantis voted for the first version of the bill as a member of the House of Representatives in 2018, the same year he was elected governor of Florida, but had resigned before the more moderate final version of the bill. be voted on in the chamber. .
Trump’s campaign responded to DeSantis by pointing to his original vote and arguing that he was essentially criticizing his own supporters in Congress who also voted for the bill.
“Lyin’ Ron. He voted for the First Step Act. Would be a shame if there was a video of him praising him in an interview with a local FL TV station…” the spokesperson tweeted. Trump campaign Stephen Cheung after the DeSantis interview.
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The prison yard at the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in El Reno, Oklahoma on July 16, 2015. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
“DeSantis supporter [Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.] also voted for the bill. DeSantis calls his own congressional supporters and throws them under the bus,” he later added in a separate tweet.
DeSantis’ affront is the latest in a series of growing criticism aimed at Trump after facing near-constant attacks from the latter in recent weeks.
The Governor on Thursday fired Trump over the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, and for what he described, Trump handed “the country back to [Dr. Anthony] Fauci.” He also said he understood Trump was going after him because “he understands that I’m the candidate who can beat him.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, left, and former President Donald Trump, right. (Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images // Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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Early polls prior to the launch of DeSantis’ presidential campaign consistently showed Trump a decisive lead on Republican ground with DeSantis far behind.
