On Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) stated that if he was elected President, he was going to urge Congress to repeal the criminal justice reform bill that then-President Donald Trump had signed.
In an appearance on “The Ben Shapiro Show,” DeSantis slammed the First Step Act, a bipartisan bill passed in 2018 that cut down the minimum sentences, and expanded credits for well-behaved prisoners who wanted reduced sentences. He specifically referred to that legislation as essentially a “jailbreak bill” and added that if he was elected to office he would have it repealed.
DeSantis officially joined the 2024 presidential race a few days earlier on Wednesday. As he stated during “The Ben Shapiro Show” it is wrong to have people who are not yet rehabilitated released early. He added that all that allows for that people to “prey” on society which is a big mistake.
DeSantis, who was serving as a congressman in 2018, had voted for the initial version of this bill that had passed through the House. This is something that Trump’s team was quick to point out. However, DeSantis had resigned by the time the final version of the bill was released. The final version included significant changes from the House version and was voted for later in 2018.
DeSantis has been arguing that Trump is not conservative enough for primary voters in multiple ways, including by commenting on Trump’s stance on criminal justice by slamming this bill.
Trump first signed the First Step Act into law in December 2018 and claimed that it was a huge achievement that would help provide those who had earned it with another chance.
