Will Hurd argued Thursday that former President Trump is running for another term in the White House as a means to stay out of jail in the wake of the latest federal charges filed against him.
“Donald Trump is not running for president to make American great again,” Hurd said on CNN. “Donald Trump is not running for president to defend our interests overseas. Donald Trump is not even running to represent the people that voted for him in 2016 and in 2020. Donald Trump is running for president in order for him to stay out of jail.”
But when Mr. Trump took the stage after more than two hours of speeches by his lower-polling rivals, it took him less than three minutes to unleash his first direct attack of the night on his leading challenger, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.
Hurd, a former congressman with a national security background who has been sharply critical of Trump, was responding to a superseding indictment filed late Thursday by the Justice Department in the case concerning Trump’s handling of classified documents.
The Justice Department in a new filing accused Trump of attempting to delete surveillance footage at his Mar-a-Lago property.
It accused Trump of acting with Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager of the hotel, and Trump’s other co-defendant, Walt Nauta, in trying to delete the footage.
Mr. Trump not only suggested that Mr. DeSantis was an “establishment globalist” but called him “DeSanctis,” which in Mr. Trump’s argot is short for the demeaning nickname DeSanctimonious and is so well-known that most attendees clearly got the reference. “I wouldn’t take a chance on that one,” Mr. Trump joked.
The crowd of more than 1,200, which had warmly welcomed Mr. DeSantis when he spoke earlier, laughed and applauded throughout Mr. Trump’s riffs.
