Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany revealed Wednesday how she believes Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could defeat former President Donald Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
McEnany told “Fox & Friends” that the Florida governor should steer away from personal attacks and focus solely on “policy distinctions” to defeat her former boss.
“If I’m on the DeSantis campaign, I’m looking at this, and I’m saying, ‘Where am I to the right of Trump? I’m to the right of him on Disney and corporate America and fighting for children. I’m to the right of him on abortion. I’m to the right of him on vaccination mandates,'” McEnany said. “Trump’s not for mandates, of course, but he did call himself the father of the vaccine. If I’m DeSantis, I’m going to ignore the name calling, knock it in the mud and I’m going to cleave to the right on policy.”
The Florida governor is expected to announce his presidential campaign Wednesday evening on Twitter alongside tech mogul Elon Musk. DeSantis has trailed the former president in recent primary polls. (RELATED: Kayleigh McEnany Says DeSantis Should ‘Get In’ Presidential Race ‘Now’)
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has made numerous attacks against DeSantis in her political ads, calling him an “echo” of Trump. McEnany criticized the Haley campaign’s move, saying her strategy would only make DeSantis more appealing to GOP primary voters.
“I am deeply confused by the Nikki Haley campaign against DeSantis. You’re reminding people that DeSantis is like Trump, which is a good thing in a Republican primary because Trump is enormously popular,” she said.
The former Trump press secretary also noted that DeSantis’ parental rights agenda and his six-week abortion ban are popular with large majorities of Republican voters.