Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Thursday said he does not believe it will “ultimately matter” when asked if he would personally support former President Donald Trump if he emerges as the Republican nominee in 2024, using the opportunity to criticize the GOP frontrunner.
A reporter asked DeSantis about Trump’s attacks against him, inquiring, “Regardless of his attacks, will you 100 percent pledge to support Trump as a GOP nominee?”
DeSantis, however, initially refused to overtly state if he would personally support Trump. Rather, he first criticized Trump’s line of attack, particularly on DeSantis’s handling of the coronavirus, only later adding that the process — people’s final decision — should be respected.
“So what I would say is this: When you are saying that Cuomo did better on COVID than Florida did, you are revealing yourself to just be full of it. Nobody believes that,” DeSantis said, recalling how Trump praised Florida for being open in 2020 and 2021 and speaking fondly of the governor’s leadership.
“Now, all of a sudden, his tune is changing. And I would just tell people, do you find it credible? Do you honestly find it credible? Would you have rather been in New York during COVID under [the] Cuomo regime, or would you rather have been in the Free State of Florida?” DeSantis asked, dismissing Trump’s critiques as “just frivolous criticisms.”
Trump, he continued, is trying to “backtrack” because he “views he needs to do that.”
“And he’s saying things that are false, and so that’s fine if you want to do it. I don’t think people are going to buy it,” he said, still not revealing if he would support Trump. Rather, DeSantis concluded that the criticisms likely will not matter, predicting his own success, emerging as the victor.
“I don’t think it’s going to ultimately matter in the end. I think we’re going to be successful, but at the same time, you know, you gotta get into these processes. It’s like, I want to beat Biden. Ok? I will do that. I will get that done,” DeSantis said, asserting that he will also bring along policies “for a landing.”
“It’s one thing to promise things, but when you don’t deliver on it…,” he said, asserting that he will do so.
#BREAKING: DeSantis asked if he pledges to support Trump if he's the GOP nominee
"When you are saying Cuomo did better than Florida on COVID, [you] are full of it. Nobody believes that […] He was praising Florida for being open [in 2020 and 2021]."
"Now he's trying to… pic.twitter.com/dXelUKW2Tn
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) June 22, 2023
DeSantis added that the primary is “an important process” and said it should be respected, somewhat sidestepping the question.
“You respect the process, and you respect the people’s decisions, how this goes, but I’m very confident that those decisions are going to be positive for us,” he added.
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Notably, the Republican National Committee (RNC) is requiring qualifying candidates participating in debates to pledge to ultimately support the party’s nominee.
Meanwhile, Trump has continually knocked DeSantis for being “disloyal,” even prior to the governor’s official campaign announcement.
“I got him elected,” Trump told Fox New’s Bret Baier. “And I thought it was very disloyal when he said, ‘Yes, I’d run.’ I got him past two races.”
Trump described himself as a “big loyalist.”
“Some people right here in this room tell me, ‘Sir don’t worry about loyalty; it doesn’t mean anything in politics.’ I said, to me, it does. I got the guy elected,” he said, asserting DeSantis came to see him “weeping because he was dead.”
“He could be replaced. The way he is going right now. He is dropping like a rock,” Trump said of the current polling trends.
“He could be number three and number four, and you won’t ever hear me talking about him again,” Trump added.
Current surveys continue to show Trump as the clear frontrunner, besting his growing field of challengers by double digits.
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