Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed a Manhattan prosecutor considering possible criminal charges against former President Donald Trump on Monday, breaking his silence on an issue that could loom large in the 2024 presidential election.

DeSantis said his administration won’t be getting involved in the matter, which he called a politically motivated investigation from a prosecutor supported by the Democratic billionaire donor George Soros.

“I have no interest in getting involved in some type of manufactured circus by some Soros DA,” DeSantis told reporters. “He’s trying to do a political spectacle. He’s trying to virtue signal for his base. I’ve got real issues I got to deal with here in the state of Florida.”

DeSantis is widely seen as the leading contender to challenge Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. DeSantis has not officially announced he will run.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is investigating whether Trump falsified business records when his former lawyer Michael Cohen made a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

In a social media post, Trump wrote that he expects to be arrested on Tuesday. Trump has declared himself a Florida resident, spending time at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach.

DeSantis accused Bragg of being soft on crime and using his authority to pursue his political enemies.

“I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair,” DeSantis said, never mentioning Trump’s name. “I can’t speak to that. But what I can speak to is that if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction, and he chooses to go back many years ago, to try to use something about porn star hush money payments — that’s an example of pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing the office.”

DeSantis delivered his assessment in response to a reporter’s questions after a news conference in Panama City on proposed financial legislation.

Bragg has declined to comment publicly about the status of the hush-money investigation, the Associated Press reported.

“We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York,” Bragg wrote in an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press.

DeSantis said he was not aware of any discussions between New York and Florida authorities on a possible indictment of Trump.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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