In the days following the breaking news that former President Donald Trump is rumored to be arrested Tuesday following an impending indictment in connection to the alleged and unproven hush money payments he made to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign, many Republicans had a polarized response to the silence of Florida Governor and likely 2024 Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis.

“I’ve seen rumors swirl. I have not seen any facts yet… so I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I do know this, the Manhattan district attorney, is a Soros-funded prosecutor. And so he like other Soros funded prosecutors, they weaponize their office to impose a political agenda on society at the expense of the rule of law and public safety. He has downgraded over 50% of the felonies to misdemeanors, he says he doesn’t want to even have jail time for the vast, vast majority of crimes. And what we’ve seen in Manhattan is we’ve seen the crime rate go up, and we’ve seen citizens become less safe… I think that that’s fundamentally wrong.”

“I also think it’s important to point out when you’re talking about these Soros funded prosecutors, yes, they may do a high profile politicized prosecution. And that’s bad.”

Despite both Trump and Stephanie Clifford, also known as “Stormy Daniels,” coming out and announcing the alleged affair never took place, as the New York Post reported in 2018, many still repeat the story.

In a move that created controversy, as many viewed this as an unnecessary and ill-timed jab towards Trump, DeSantis would add:

“I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair.”

The shot toward Trump was viewed by many as being made at the wrong time as many viewed DeSantis’s comments as being made in poor judgment. DeSantis took the time during the brief press conference to make jabs at Trump, while many Republicans believe the short amount of time should’ve been spent underlining the significance of a Soros-backed DA’s politically motivated charges against the former President of the United States, as well as the political implications that could result in this radical-left power move.

Donald Trump Jr. would take to Twitter to share his thoughts on DeSantis’s response, saying:

“So DeSantis thinks that Dems weaponizing the law to indict President Trump is a “manufactured circus” & isn’t a “real issue”

Pure weakness. Now we know why he was silent all weekend. He’s totally owned by Karl Rove, Paul Ryan & his billionaire donors. 100% Controlled Opposition.”

Despite the aftermath of Jan. 6 and the resulting poor relationship between former Vice President Mike Pence and Donald Trump, Pence would still stand against Soros-backed politically motivated DAs and stand with Trump, saying in an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl:

“I’m taken aback at the idea of indicting a former President of the United States, at a time when there’s a crime wave in New York City, that — the fact that the Manhattan DA thinks that indicting President Trump is his top priority, I think is, just tells you everything you need to know about the radical left in this country.”