DeSantis skirts Trump's 2nd indictment but warns of government 'weaponization'

When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took the stage in a Greensboro, North Carolina, ballroom on Friday night, the country was still digesting the unsealing hours earlier of a 37-count federal indictment of his top rival, former President Donald Trump, a development that reverberated through the Republican presidential primary.

But the governor's speeches this weekend in North Carolina and Tulsa, Oklahoma, his first public appearances after the indictment, diverged little from ones he gave last week across three early nominating states, with promises to "restore sanity" to a nation overcome by "woke" thinking.

DeSantis never mentioned Trump by name and only appeared to reference the indictment news obliquely, condemning the "weaponization" of federal agencies -- as Trump and other Republicans have been sharply criticizing the Department of Justice and the prosecutor overseeing Trump's case.

DeSantis took a somewhat less combative tone. Unlike some others in the 2024 race, he has also not said whether he would seek a federal pardon of Trump if he is elected.

"Our founding fathers would have absolutely predicted the weaponization that we've seen with these agents, particularly Justice and FBI, because when you don't have constitutional accountability, human nature is such that they will abuse power. And that's what happened," DeSantis said at the North Carolina's state GOP convention.

As he did in a Twitter statement on Thursday night, DeSantis cited Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden to argue that a double standard of justice exists in America.

Biden, the president's son, is under federal investigation and has maintained he will be cleared; a review of the investigation into Clinton's use of a personal email server while working in the government suggests notable differences with Trump's conduct and authorities found a "lack of intent" on her part, though the FBI director at the time called her "extremely careless."

DeSantis said in his convention speech that "you know what, when I was in Congress, I remember, you know, Hillary had emails with the classified, and my view was, gee, as a naval officer, if I would have taken classified from my department, I would have been court marshaled in a New York minute, and yet they seem to not care about that."

He went on to warn of threats to regular Americans who, he said, could be similarly mistreated by the system.

"Here's the thing: There's obviously your high-profile examples, but there are examples of ordinary people who may not get the same headlines," he said.

DeSantis' response mirrored his comments after Trump was indicted in March by a New York City grand jury on charges related to hush money he paid to an adult film actress. Trump has pleaded not guilty in that case.

"The weaponization of the legal system to advance a political agenda turns the rule of law on its head," he wrote then on Twitter, not naming Trump.

During his remarks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, DeSantis also did not mention Trump's federal indictment. Still, it was a concern for some voters who attended the event, with some believing it would impact Trump's ability to win in 2024.

Richard Ferris, a Republican from Tulsa, told ABC News that he had not decided who he'll support in the 2024 election and that he attended DeSantis' campaign event to learn more about the governor.

Despite supporting Trump in 2020, Ferris says he's concerned about the former president's ability to win the election.

"Some of the things that are going on with him right now, I think he's got enough to worry about as far as running for president," Ferris said.

Ferris cited the DOJ's indictment of Trump as one of his concerns but added that he believes that Trump is being singled out.

Debbie and Bob Gresh told ABC News that although they voted for Trump in the 2020 election and believe he's a good man, "with all the issues that are going on, it would be hard to elect him."

When asked about their thoughts on Trump's recent indictment, the Greshes said they believe it's a ploy to "drive away competition" in the election.

"I think they're picking on him and I think it's shameful," Bob Gresh said.

Trump, for his part, used his appearances this weekend to rail against the federal case and the special counsel, Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution.

He had sharp words for DeSantis, too, labeling the governor a "lousy campaigner" with "no personality" -- while DeSantis has hit back at Trump over what DeSantis said are Trump's broken pledges on immigration and more.

On Saturday, Trump appeared at a Waffle House in Georgia to greet supporters. At his side was Walt Nauta, who was also indicted in the federal case. Nauta's attorney has declined to comment to ABC News.

ABC News' Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.