Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared to respond to former President Donald Trump’s recent attacks against him at a Tuesday press conference.
Trump has targeted DeSantis ahead of the former president’s announcement to be made later Tuesday regarding an expected 2024 presidential run. Recent polls show the Florida governor leading Trump in hypothetical 2024 presidential primaries, creating an anticipated political rivalry.
“We’d like to know what you think about Trump’s big announcement and some of the less-than-flattering comments he’s made about you,” a reporter said during the press conference.
“One of the things I’ve learned in this job is when you’re leading, when you’re getting things done, yeah, you take in incoming fire,” DeSantis responded. “That’s just the nature of it. I roll out of bed in the morning, I’ve got corporate media outlets that have a spasm just the fact that I’m getting up in the morning, and it’s constantly attacking, and this is just what’s happened.”
“I don’t think any governor got attacked more, particularly by corporate media, than me over my four-year term and yet I think what you learn is, all that’s just noise and really what matters is, are you leading, are you getting in front of issues, are you delivering results for people and are you standing up for folks,” DeSantis continued. “And if you do that, then none of that stuff matters, and that’s what we’ve done. We’ve focused on results and leadership, and at the end of the day, I would just tell people to check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night.”
Gov. DeSantis Launches Initiatives to Support Florida’s Military Families https://t.co/1eAn0UW51I
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) November 15, 2022
Trump nicknamed the governor “Ron DeSanctimonious” during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania as he read popularity percentages of potential 2024 candidates. The former president branded DeSantis as an “average governor” who only gained popularity because of his endorsement. (RELATED: POLL: DeSantis Leads Trump In Texas GOP Primary Matchup)
“Ron came to me in desperate shape in 2017 — he was politically dead, losing in a landslide to a very good Agriculture Commissioner, Adam Putnam, who was loaded up with cash and great poll numbers. Ron had low approval, bad polls, and no money, but he said that if I would Endorse him, he could win,” the former president wrote in a Truth Social post Thursday.
Recent polls from four key states — New Hampshire, Florida, Georgia and Iowa — show DeSantis up by double digits against Trump. A New Hampshire matchup has DeSantis at 52% compared to 37% for Trump, and the governor leads Trump 56%-30% in his home state of Florida.
The former president said a presidential bid by DeSantis would be “a mistake,” as DeSantis could potentially “hurt himself very badly.”
“If he did run, I will tell you things about him that won’t be very flattering. I know more about him than anybody other than perhaps his wife, who is really running his campaign,” Trump warned.