Amid the historic indictment of former President Donald Trump on March 30, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s presumed rival for the 2024 Republican nomination, declared that “Florida will not assist in an extradition request” to send Trump to New York to face trial — exactly what Trump’s media allies called for him to say nearly two weeks earlier.

On March 20, during a statement broadly denouncing the investigation by “Soros-funded” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, DeSantis included a tepid criticism of Trump — “I don't know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair” — and said that he wouldn’t get involved “in any way,” preferring to focus on “real issues” instead. 

Trump allies quickly became unhinged at the governor’s perceived betrayal. 

Among the comments labeling DeSantis a weak-willed “weasel,” numerous figures in pro-Trump media specifically called for the governor to block Trump’s extradition from his home in Florida:

Conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich even offered a sample statement for DeSantis to issue, which hit many of the points that appeared in the governor’s actual statement 12 days later.

DeSantis bent the knee to Trumpworld and defended his primary rival for the Republican nomination at what should have been a vulnerable moment, seemingly undermining his own potential 2024 campaign. And some of Trump’s supporters still said that DeSantis should have been tougher.

Adding to the pathetic nature of the governor’s display, a Trump attorney told NBC News that the former president will surrender himself to authorities in New York next week. There will seemingly be no extradition process over which DeSantis can peacock.

Ron DeSantis caving to the demands of Trumpist media is another example of the impossible bind the governor is in, and the suffocating power Trump and his media allies still hold over Republican politics.