Like many other GOP politicians who have tried to look respectable while showing “respect” for the reactionary base, DeSantis has done his best to avoid answering questions about the “rigged” election and January 6. He typically minimizes the danger presented by the rioters without commenting on the justice of their cause.
That approach is unlikely to survive the presidential primaries–Trump will see to that. Then what? If he continues to dodge the question during the debates, he will look like a wimp to both the base and more moderate voters. If he agrees with Trump that the election was rigged, he is effectively admitting that Trump won and should be president today, which completely undercuts his argument that Trump is a loser. If he openly condemns the plot to overturn the election and the rioters, he will no longer have any claim to the votes of the base. Which is the least bad choice?
A more astute tactician would condemn the rioters and seek to unite the 70 percent against Trump on the basis that the 30 percent has nowhere else to go in the general election. I have seen no indication that DeSantis is likely to do this. I suspect he will continue to avoid the question, to howls of derision from both the right and the left.