'An Almost 80-year-old Former President': Ron DeSantis Takes Dig at Rival Donald Trump's Age
!['An Almost 80-year-old Former President': DeSantis Takes Dig at Trump's Age](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/oQzg4pLjO/480x251/ron-desantis-dig-donald-trump-age-pardon-80-year-old-ex-prezjpg-1690569499408.jpg 480w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/oQzg4pLjO/640x335/ron-desantis-dig-donald-trump-age-pardon-80-year-old-ex-prezjpg-1690569499408.jpg 640w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/oQzg4pLjO/768x402/ron-desantis-dig-donald-trump-age-pardon-80-year-old-ex-prezjpg-1690569499408.jpg 768w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/oQzg4pLjO/1024x536/ron-desantis-dig-donald-trump-age-pardon-80-year-old-ex-prezjpg-1690569499408.jpg 1024w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/oQzg4pLjO/1280x670/ron-desantis-dig-donald-trump-age-pardon-80-year-old-ex-prezjpg-1690569499408.jpg 1280w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/oQzg4pLjO/1440x753/ron-desantis-dig-donald-trump-age-pardon-80-year-old-ex-prezjpg-1690569499408.jpg 1440w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/oQzg4pLjO/1600x837/ron-desantis-dig-donald-trump-age-pardon-80-year-old-ex-prezjpg-1690569499408.jpg 1600w, https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/oQzg4pLjO/2160x1130/ron-desantis-dig-donald-trump-age-pardon-80-year-old-ex-prezjpg-1690569499408.jpg 2160w)
July 28 2023, Published 3:30 p.m. ET
Ron DeSantis took a rare dig at Donald Trump’s age this week while discussing a possible pardon for the embattled 77-year-old ex-president, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The Florida governor’s surprising remarks came on Friday during an interview with Megyn Kelly on her SiriusXM program The Megyn Kelly Show.
!['An Almost 80-year-old Former President': DeSantis Takes Dig at Trump's Age](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/iNyvL6tqo/0x0/ron-desantis-dig-donald-trump-age-pardon-80-year-old-ex-prez-4jpg-1690569512397.jpg)
The pair discussed the two indictments already filed against former President Trump, as well as a possible third indictment Special Counsel Jack Smith is allegedly preparing to file in connection to Trump’s purported efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
“Given your views on the weaponization of government, would you commit to pardoning him on any federal charges against him?” Kelly asked DeSantis on Friday.
!['An Almost 80-year-old Former President': DeSantis Takes Dig at Trump's Age](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/ijP-EzbKU/0x0/ron-desantis-dig-donald-trump-age-pardon-80-year-old-ex-prez-2jpg-1690569522729.jpg)
“What I’ve said is very simple. I’m gonna do what’s right for the country,” DeSantis, 44, responded. “I don’t think it would be good for the country to have an almost 80-year-old former president go to prison.”
“It just doesn’t seem like it would be a good thing,” the Florida governor continued. “And I look at like, you know, [Gerald] Ford pardoned [Richard] Nixon, took some heat for it, but at the end of the day, it’s like, do we wanna move forward as a country or do we want to be mired in these past controversies?”
“And I think the public wants a fresh start. I think they want somebody that’s gonna focus on their issues,” DeSantis added. “We’ve had a lot that’s happened over the last five or six years, you know, I get that. But going forward, we’ve got all these issues that we’ve gotta deal with.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, DeSantis rarely speaks out against Trump despite the fact the former president regularly attacks the Florida governor-turned-presidential hopeful.
![ron desantis dig donald trump age pardon year old ex prez jpg](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/_OtN1ylWu/0x0/ron-desantis-dig-donald-trump-age-pardon-80-year-old-ex-prez-1jpg-1690569533141.jpg)
But despite the constant attacks against DeSantis, Trump has regularly refused to take the stage for debates against his 2024 GOP rivals ahead of next year’s primary and general elections.
According to Trump, he does not need to debate any of his Republican challengers due to his "extraordinary" poll numbers.
!['An Almost 80-year-old Former President': DeSantis Takes Dig at Trump's Age](https://media.radaronline.com/brand-img/Pta8aapwj/0x0/ron-desantis-dig-donald-trump-age-pardon-80-year-old-ex-prez-3jpg-1690569545669.jpg)
Meanwhile, DeSantis has urged Trump to take the debate stage so the two can discuss the “differences” between them as Republican candidates.
“We’ve been very frank at our differences with respect to the former president,” DeSantis said earlier this month. “I mean, for example, he promised to drain the swamp. It got worse. He did not drain the swamp.”
![Radar Logo](/radar_logo.png)
“He promised to have Mexico pay for a border wall. They did like 50 miles of wall,” he continued. “He said he was going to eliminate the national debt. They added almost $8 trillion to the debt in four years.”
“But I have no interest in attacking Donald Trump or any of these other candidates,” the Florida governor concluded. “Personally, I think we’ve got to rise above that and focus on the issues for once.”
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