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BREAKING NEWS: Stanford University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne announces his
resignation. Click for more...




WASHINGTON - Seeking to retool his presidential bid, Ron DeSantis took to cable
news Tuesday to play down his campaign's problems and frontrunner Donald Trump's
legal issues.

“I wanna focus on looking forward - I don’t wanna look back,” DeSantis told CNN
in an interview scheduled amid falling poll numbers and organizational issues
facing the Florida governor.




Saying he was an underdog during his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, DeSantis said:
“They’ve been saying that I’ve been doing poorly for my whole time as governor,
basically."

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'CRIMINALIZING POLITICAL DIFFERENCES'

Speaking shortly after Trump announced he may soon be indicted again, DeSantis
criticized Trump's actions regarding the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021; he also
accused government authorities of "weaponizing" law enforcement against the
former president.



Trump has already been indicted twice this year: a federal case in Florida over
classified documents and a state case in New York regarding hush money. DeSantis
was particularly critical of the New York case, saying prosecutors are
stretching the law to implicate the former president.

"So here's the problem," DeSantis told CNN. "This country is going down the road
of criminalizing political differences."

Trump announced on his Truth Social website he had received a "target letter"
regarding the investigation into efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to President
Joe Biden. The investigation also centers on the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.

The former president enjoys huge national poll leads against DeSantis and other
Republican challengers; DeSantis told CNN he is doing better in individual state
polls.




DESANTIS CAMPAIGN PROBLEMS



DeSantis appeared on CNN amid falling poll numbers, high spending rates, and
layoffs of campaign staff members.

DeSantis said he is building a campaign for the long term, right up to the Iowa
caucuses on Jan. 15.

Tactics include voter turnout operations in key states, particularly early state
contests like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

"This is a state-by-state process," DeSantis said.

Moving forward, DeSantis also plans to draw policy contrasts with Trump on
issues like border security and the economy. The governor also plans to speak
more with the mainstream media, such as CNN.

The Trump challenger sat down with CNN during a visit to South Carolina, where
he filed for the state primary in February and delivered a speech decrying
"woke" programs in the U.S. military.




'COME OUT MORE FORCEFULLY'

Speaking early in the day with reporters in South Carolina, DeSantis said Trump
should have acted quicker and "come out more forcefully" against rioters who
stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“I think it was shown how he was in the White House and didn’t do anything while
things were going on," DeSantis said. "He should have come out more
forcefully…but to try to criminalize that that’s a different issue entirely.”

Trump allies denounced DeSantis' criticism. Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung
called it "a disqualifying take from an unserious candidate in the last throes
of his failed candidacy."




CHRISTIE, HUTCHINSON

Other candidates further back in the Republican pack criticized Trump and said
he has brought his legal problems on himself.



Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, also a former prosecutor, said he wants
to see a specific Jan. 6 indictment before commenting on the merits of the case
against Trump.

On Twitter, Christie added that, case or no case, "his conduct on January 6th
proves he doesn’t care about our country & our Constitution."

Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., a former governor, congressman, and prosecutor based in
Arkansas, said Trump's handling of Jan. 6 disqualify him from the presidency. He
dismissed Trump's cries of victimhood.

"The real victims of January 6th were our democracy, our rule of law, and those
Capitol Police officers who worked valiantly to protect our Capitol," he said.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Trump's legal problems will dominate
the campaign. "That's why I am running - because we need a new generational
leader," Haley told Fox News. "We can't keep dealing with this drama."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Looking forward:' Ron DeSantis
downplays campaign problems and Trump's indictments




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With an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion, former President Donald Trump
doesn’t necessarily need a monthly Social Security check to help pay the bills.
At 77 years old, he has been eligible for Social Security for 15 years and
reached his full retirement age more than a decade ago.



See: Here’s the Average Social Security Check for Men vs. Women



Find: 3 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Retirement



Given his earnings history, Trump likely qualifies for the maximum Social
Security payment. In 2023, the max is $4,555 a month for those who claim
benefits at age 70 and meet certain earnings milestones over 35 years.

Retirement Savings: Here’s How Much Cash Baby Boomers Need To Retire in the Next
5 Years

Normally, it’s not possible to know the amount of someone’s Social Security
check because that information is private and confidential. But in Trump’s case,
the world got a glimpse of his income late last year when his tax returns were
released to the public.

One of the things those returns revealed is that Trump had no Social Security
income for tax years 2015 through 2020, CNBC reported. That’s not a huge
surprise. Although wealthy people might qualify for Social Security retirement
benefits, they are under no obligation to claim them. Many take a pass because
they don’t need the money.




“It’s not necessarily uncommon that the real high earners just skip Social
Security,” Jim Blair, vice president of Premier Social Security Consulting and a
former Social Security administrator, told CNBC.



In fact, some people would like to see all wealthy retirees either be
disqualified from collecting Social Security or have their benefits greatly
reduced. This is mainly because the program’s Old Age and Survivors Insurance
(OASI) Trust Fund is expected to run out of money in about a decade, leaving it
solely reliant on payroll taxes for funding. Those taxes will only cover about
77% of current benefits.

Not paying Social Security to the wealthy would help a little, though not nearly
enough to make up for the shortfall.

For Trump, skipping Social Security is no great sacrifice — especially since he
qualifies for a pension as a former president. As of July 2022, he had already
collected about $342,000 in pension benefits since leaving office 19 months
earlier, NBC News reported, citing General Services Administration data.



Like all former presidents, Trump gets a lifetime federal pension as well as
other taxpayer-funded benefits under The Former Presidents Act. 

Whether or not all wealthy retirees should skip collecting Social Security is up
for debate.

Although the rich might not need the money, there are a few reasons they might
consider collecting it anyway, CNBC noted. For one thing, they paid into the
system, so they have a right to the money. For another, their loved ones might
be eligible for Social Security benefits under the high earner’s work record —
and those loved ones might one day need the money.

Unlike Trump, President Joe Biden does collect Social Security. As previously
reported by GOBankingRates, Biden and his wife Jill collected a combined $54,665
in Social Security benefits in 2021, according to their income tax returns. That
breaks down to roughly $4,555 a month or $2,277 for each spouse per month.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Big Is Donald
Trump’s Social Security Check?




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