Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he wishes his 2024 presidential primary rival Donald Trump had not been indicted because the former president’s legal woes have “sucked out a lot of oxygen” from the Republican contest.

In an interview with Christian Broadcasting Network’s David Brody airing Thursday, DeSantis was asked what he most regrets about how the GOP primary has unfolded.

“I would say if I could have one thing change, I wish Trump hadn’t been indicted on any of this stuff,” DeSantis told Brody.

DeSantis noted he’s been critical of the charges Trump has faced this year, including those related to the investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over alleged hush money payments made by the former president.

“Someone like Bragg would not have brought that case if it was anyone other than Donald Trump, and so someone like that is distorting justice, which is bad,” DeSantis said. “But I also think it distorted the primary.”

Brody asked if he felt the indictments made Trump stronger in the primary race.

“It’s both that but then it also just crowded out, I think, so much other stuff and it’s sucked out a lot of oxygen,” DeSantis responded.

DeSantis has publicly criticized the various indictments against Trump, which include federal charges related to his handling of classified documents after he left office as well as his actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. In July, DeSantis said he was concerned about the primary’s focus on Trump’s legal battles.

“I don’t think it serves us good to have a presidential election focused on what happened four years ago,” he told CNN.

DeSantis, who entered the primary in May and has focused much of his campaign on culture war issues, has trailed Trump in the polls throughout the race, with Trump’s lead only becoming more pronounced in recent months.

A Quinnipiac University poll released this week found the Florida governor tied with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for a distant second place — 67% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters surveyed are siding with Trump, while DeSantis and Haley picked up 11% each.

Amid the candidate’s lackluster poll performance, DeSantis’ campaign has been rocked by internal turmoil. Jeff Roe, the senior strategist of the super PAC supporting DeSantis, resigned last week following a Washington Post report on “mismanagement and conduct issues” at the organization. His departure came just weeks after several other senior officials stepped down from the super PAC.

Related…