During an NBC interview last week, Florida Governor DeSantis criticized the the Trump administration during the 2020 election, mentioning concerns over mail-in ballots and social media censorship. He argued that Trump didn’t fight back effectively and even suggested that Trump inadvertently contributed to his own defeat by supporting the CARES Act, which made mail-in voting more accessible.

The governor stated:

“But here’s the issue that I think is important for Republican voters to think about: Why did we have all those mail votes? Because…Trump turned the government over to Fauci, they embraced lockdowns, they did the CARES Act, which funded mail-in ballots across the country. Donald Trump signed that bill that funded the mail ballots that all the Republicans have been so concerned about. And also, with the censorship of the Hunter Biden [story], that was Donald Trump’s FBI that was working with that. He didn’t have control over his own government. … And so, I think all of those issues were very problematic, but, at the end of the day, Donald Trump helped facilitate that whole set of circumstances.”

DeSantis argued that the CARES Act indirectly aided in Trump’s defeat as it helped make mail-in ballots more popular. He criticized Trump for embracing lockdowns and “turning the government over to Fauci.”

DeSantis’s comments come shortly after Trump pleaded not guilty to four federal charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of an official proceeding.

The Florida governor, now running for president against Trump, asserted that the legal issues surrounding Trump were “not really about Trump,” expressing concerns that the legal system is being “weaponized.”