Schiff says that DeSantis is putting his goals ahead of any morals or principles. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., called Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis “cowardly” on Sunday.
This was after DeSantis said his state would not help if Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg asked to extradite former President Donald Trump because he was charged with crimes.
Schiff said that DeSantis “will say and do anything to become president,” even though the governor hasn’t officially said he’s running for office yet. Schiff said, “It also says a lot about the state of the GOP, which is that you have to attack the justice system, guess at motives, and assume the worst.”
The lawmaker said these things on the new MSNBC show of former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, after DeSantis said that Trump’s charge was based on politics. “The Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney has always twisted the law to downgrade felonies and excuse criminal behavior,” tweeted DeSantis on Thursday.
“Yet, now he’s breaking the law to go after a political rival.” DeSantis also said, “Florida will not help with an extradition request because this Manhattan prosecutor is backed by George Soros and has a political agenda.” Schiff said that DeSantis, who has a law degree from Harvard, is “not stupid” and “knows what his duty is: to send someone to jail in another state who is accused of a crime there.” “And in that statement, too, you have to ignore the law and say you won’t extradite someone accused of a crime in order to be competitive in the Republican primary,” he said.
“He goes further and tries to link this to George Soros, which is, you know, a not-so-thinly-veiled antisemitic idea that is popular with some of Trump’s supporters.” Schiff said that DeSantis’s comment was a “cowardly” attempt to “compete with Donald Trump on Trump’s own turf.” Schiff said, “But he also knows how to get to power in the GOP, which is now to appeal to the lowest common denominator. I think that’s a terrible way to use his legal education.” “It’s putting ambition ahead of any morals or principles. Nothing else matters but ambition.” Fox News Digital asked DeSantis’s team for a response, but they didn’t answer right away.