DeSantis: Trump’s chances of being elected if convicted ‘close to zero’

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has said Donald Trump is unlikely to be elected US president again if convicted in any of the four criminal cases he faces.

Mr DeSantis made the comments in an interview with CBS News.

The Florida governor has sharpened his critiques of Mr Trump, seeking to paint him as unelectable as he strains to catch up to the former president in the Republican presidential race.

“I didn’t think even before all this that the president, the former president, should have run again,” Mr DeSantis said in the interview.

Mr DeSantis, who is in a distant second in the race, has gradually hardened his criticisms of the former president as he runs against him.

He joined almost all of the Republican candidates on the debate stage last month in saying they would support Mr Trump, the frontrunner, as the party’s nominee, if he is convicted.

But in the new interview, Mr DeSantis said it is unlikely Mr Trump can win if he is convicted.

“I think the chance of getting elected after being convicted of a felony is as close to zero as you can get,” he said.

Mr Trump faces 91 charges across four criminal cases, two filed in federal court in Washington and Florida and two in state courts in New York and Georgia.

The cases are related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, allegations he mishandled classified documents and hush money payments made to hide claims of extramarital affairs.

Mr DeSantis has in the past made comments agreeing with Mr Trump’s statements suggesting the cases against him are politically motivated, with the governor saying the criminal justice system was being politicised.

Mr DeSantis also criticised Mr Trump for adding to the national debt as president.

According to the Bipartisan Policy Centre, the gross national debt rose by 7.4 trillion dollars over the Trump years.

Mr DeSantis said both parties have added to the debt and “Republicans talk big when they’re out of power, but when they get in, they don’t put their money where their mouth is”.

“Donald Trump added almost eight trillion dollars to the debt in four years. He ran saying he was going to eliminate the national debt,” he said.

“He did make that promise, and they did the opposite.”

Mr Trump’s campaign did not respond to Mr DeSantis’s comments on the debt.