Florida Democrat Senate candidate Angie Nixon defended her recent comments calling for the arrest and incarceration of her Republican opponent, Sen. Ashley Moody.

During an appearance with Margaret Brennan on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” she was asked about Nixon’s contention that Moody “should be locked up and punished in jail.”

“Given in the past that Democrats have expressed discomfort with some Republicans using that kind of language, do you worry that that sounds like a desire to weaponize the justice system?” Brennan asked.

“It's not a desire to weaponize the justice system,” Nixon replied. “It's designed to actually hold corrupt politicians accountable for what they're doing. Again, I want an investigation done. I would like the Department of Justice to investigate because nearly $10 million was stolen from sick kids, and people are pointing the finger, saying they don't know who did it. And so we need to bring that in.”

The candidate continued, saying “This is Donald Trump 2.0 here in the state of Florida, and we really need to work to push back.” and that she is wondering “how many kids are going to die because $10 million was taken from Medicaid that was supposed to make sure that those sick kids had the treatment that they needed here.”

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Nixon made the original comments during a CNN interview last week in which she accused Moody of being a “lying, cheating, thieving, scamming person” who diverted the Medicaid funds into political accounts used by Gov. Ron DeSantis to oppose ballot measures.

After rejecting claims that she wants to defund the police and abolish prisons, she asked why she would support such policies when she wants Moody “locked up and punished in jail for what she has done.”

A leaked Leon County grand jury presentment found that a $67 million settlement with Centene over Medicaid overbilling allocated about $57 million to the state and $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation. The organization then granted the money to two nonprofits that contributed to a political committee chaired by DeSantis’ chief of staff. The purpose of the committee was to oppose the 2024 recreational marijuana ballot measure.

The grand jury concluded that the funds were “misappropriated as part of a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities” but found insufficient evidence to indict anyone.

Florida’s First District Court of Appeal ordered the entire report expunged on Oct. 7, 2026, ruling that the grand jury exceeded its authority by declaring conduct unlawful without indicting anyone, that the $10 million “was never public money” because it went directly from Centene to the foundation rather than becoming state funds.

As they say, one can indict a ham sandwich — especially when it involves federal grand juries. The fact that they were unable to win an indictment tells us that the allegations could be unfounded. Yet, Nixon still feels comfortable calling for the incarceration of a political opponent.

But this isn’t the first time Nixon has supported lawfare against political opponents. In a February post on X, she wrote, “I can’t wait until Donald Trump is arrested and held accountable. I will definitely vote to remove him after becoming Florida’s next U.S. Senator.”

The most recent poll from ActiVote shows Moody leading Nixon 53 percent to 47 percent.