WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a brief news conference Tuesday as part of a shift in strategy for his presidential campaign, but the governor took only four questions, almost all of which centered on the party's front-runner, Donald Trump.
DeSantis' day on the campaign trail in South Carolina was supposed to be focused on his filing paperwork for South Carolina's Republican primary and on the rollout of a policy plan for the military, followed by a news conference and a CNN interview later Tuesday.
But shortly before DeSantis' event was scheduled to start, Trump, as he often does, overshadowed the day. The Republican former president broke the news on his social media network that he'd been informed he is a target of the Justice Department's investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
DeSantis' attempt to change the conversation underscored the challenges he faces in trying to overtake the former president and his command of the spotlight in the GOP presidential race. Indeed, the news that Trump could soon be charged by U.S. prosecutors, as well as his behavior surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was the subject of two of the four questions DeSantis received at his news conference.
DeSantis, who has offered tepid criticism of Trump amid his legal troubles, made his strongest criticism yet of the former president's…
