Today Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis refused to commit to backing 45th President Donald Trump in the 2024 general election should the former president secure the Republican nomination, possibly paving the way to lose his position in the upcoming Republican Party primary debates.
Asked about whether he will pledge to support Trump in 2024, DeSantis instead pivoted to a discussion of Covid-19, calling Trump “full of it” for comparing Florida’s Covid-19 lockdown to the one in New York.
“These are just frivolous criticisms, but in some respects I think it shows that, you know, if you have to make that argument then you probably don’t have very good arguments,” DeSantis pivoted. “The reality is everything he said about us for years, about how strong we were, how good we were, how we delivered for the state, those happen to be true.” “He’s saying things that are false, so that’s fine if you want to do it.”
“At the same time, you know you get into these processes, it’s like, I want to beat Biden, OK? I will do that, I will get that done.”
#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
Coming closer to addressing the question, DeSantis seemed to acknowledge the will of the voters will ultimately determine the Republican nominee.
“It’s an important process and, you know, you respect the process and the people – the decision – how this goes,” DeSantis continued, “but I’m very confident that those decisions are gonna be positive for us.”
In his entire two minute response, DeSantis neglected to answer the question about whether he will support Trump.
Meanwhile earlier this month it was declared that all Republican candidates must pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee in order to attend Republican Party primary debates.
DeSantis holds a Trump sign for an old campaign advertisement (YouTube)
Underscoring the urgency for DeSantis to make the pledge, the first debate is scheduled to be held in Milwaukee on August 23. It will broadcast on Fox News and Rumble.
In addition to pledging to support the eventual nominee, Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel declared that those participating must have 1% support in a variety of polls, a minimum of 40,000 unique campaign donors across various states, and agree not to appear in any debates not sanctioned by the RNC.
DeSantis remains second to Trump in most polls, but the distance between the two candidates has expanded steadily since the Florida governor announced for president.
Some national polls now show Trump with over 50% of support and DeSantis with less than 20% of support, creating a seemingly insurmountable 30-point gap between the candidates.
