Ron DeSantis Gives Bizarre Excuse for Missing Donald Trump's Third Arraignment: 'We Had an Execution'

Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis gave a bizarre excuse for not following opponent Donald Trump's latest arraignment, RadarOnline.com has learned.

During a campaign event at an Iowa brewery on Friday, the Republican lawmaker was asked his thoughts on Trump's third arraignment and whether or not he indulged in any of the extensive media coverage of the event.

Once again, DeSantis failed to win much-needed charisma points as Trump leads the current GOP field by double digits. Despite the former president's historic third arraignment being covered by every major news outlet, DeSantis said he was only able to catch "a little bit."

Few could have predicted what the governor said next as explained his reason for missing widespread coverage of Trump's arrest.

"Unfortunately, one of the things as governor that you have to do is oversee executions," DeSantis said according to Mediaite. "So we had an execution yesterday, so I was tied up with that for most of the day."

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DeSantis was presumably referring to the execution of death row inmate James Barnes, who died Thursday. Barnes was convicted of the 1988 murder of a woman and confessed to murdering his estranged wife in 1997.

Though it was unknown if the comment was meant to bolster support from voters who pushed for more "law and order," a key talking point of the DeSantis '24 campaign, the casually bold remark certainly raised eyebrows.

The governor continued to shock the press when he condemned Trump's "big lie" on rigged voting machines and the 2020 presidential election.

"It was not an election that was conducted the way I think that we want to, but that’s different than saying Maduro stole votes or something like that," DeSantis said as he mentioned Trump's claims. "Those theories, you know, proved to be unsubstantiated."

Even with three indictments within four months — and another expected one from Georgia DA Fani Willis — Trump maintained a notable lead over DeSantis, who is favored second in the polls.