Ron DeSantis says Trump is ‘full of it’: Rips 2024 Republican rival for ‘frivolous’ and false’ criticism of COVID response when asked if he would support ex-President as GOP nominee
- Florida Governor DeSantis said he would ‘respect’ 2024 primaries and voters’ will
- Refused to say if he would support Donald Trump if he is the final nominee
- “I want to beat Biden, okay? I’ll do that, I’ll get that done,” DeSantis said
Ron DeSantis is the latest Republican to seem hesitant about the RNC’s requirement to support the final nominee if candidates want to reach the Party-sponsored debate stage.
When asked if he would support front-runner Donald Trump if he became the Republican nominee in 2024, Florida’s governor deviated from attacking some of the former president’s recent statements.
He did say during a press conference on Thursday morning in Florida that he would “respect the process and the decision of the people.”
“I want to beat [President Joe] Biden, okay?’ DeSantis said. “I will do that, I will get that done. And, I think, even more important than that, I will actually land these policies and get them done.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he would “respect” the 2024 primaries and the will of voters — he wouldn’t say directly whether he would support Donald Trump if he were the final nominee
Fellow 2024 contenders and former governors Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson both said over the weekend they think the RNC requirement to support the eventual nominee is “useless” — and a way to “circle the wagons around Trump.”
The former president has also declined to support the pledge.
DeSantis vowed his campaign stump speech isn’t full of empty promises as a swipe at Trump, who he claims failed to keep his vows as president.
The 2024 presidential hopeful is ramping up his rhetoric against his No. 1 rival in the 2024 primaries after months of attacks in which Trump claims DeSantis’ participation in the race would be “disloyal.”
Now the ex-president claims that New York did better with its COVID-19 response than Florida, despite claims to the contrary during the pandemic.
DeSantis replied to a reporter at a news conference Thursday when asked if he would pledge to support the 2024 nominee: “If you say that [New York Gov. Andrew] Cuomo did better on COVID than Florida, you’re showing that you’re just full of it.”
“Nobody believes that,” he added. ‘And do you know why I know that? Because I remember in 2020 and 2021 he praised Florida for being open.”
The governor said Trump often praised him for responding “better than New York and Michigan” to the coronavirus pandemic.
“He used to say that all the time — now his tune suddenly changes,” DeSantis said. “And I would just tell people — do you find it believable?”
These are just frivolous critiques. But I think in some ways it shows that if you have to make that argument, you probably don’t have very good arguments.’
“Now he’s trying to come back, because he thinks he should — and he’s saying things that aren’t true.”
Some 2024 longshots claim the RNC’s requirement to support the eventual nominee if they want to make it to the debate stage is a way to “spin the wheels around Trump”
DeSantis still insisted that the presidential primary is still a critical step in the election cycle that he will “respect.”
“It’s an important process, and you know, you respect the process and you respect people’s decisions,” DeSantis said. “But I’m confident that those decisions will be positive for us.”
The Florida governor will speak in South Carolina later Thursday afternoon and will visit New Hampshire next week for another campaign stop.