Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, fresh off a landslide victory in Tuesday’s midterm elections, faced a barrage of questions this week, including some about the elephant in the Republican room: former President Donald Trump’s words against DeSantis, which have angered many conservatives.
The GOP governor, for whom Trump claimed to have voted on Election Day, was asked about his thoughts on Trump’s “special announcement” scheduled for 9:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday night and his response to “some of the less than nice statements” Trump made about him. After being silent, DeSantis finally responded to Trump’s accusations, but he did so with dignity.
“When you’re leading, and you’re getting things done, you take incoming fire,” DeSantis said, explaining one of the lessons he’s learned on the job. “Simply put, that’s how things work. Just the fact that I’m waking up in the morning causes a spasm in the corporate media, and that’s before I’ve even had my coffee, “DeSantis stated, avoiding an open confrontation with the 45th president.
During his four years in office, DeSantis said, “I don’t think any governor got vilified more, particularly by corporate media, than me.” “But nevertheless, I consider everything you learn to be meaningless background noise. Are you taking the lead? Is it your practice to anticipate problems before they arise? Do the people benefit from what you’re doing? To what extent, if any, are you advocating for others?” To continue, DeSantis. “If you accomplish that, then all the other stuff becomes irrelevant.”
According to DeSantis, “that’s what we’ve done” during his first year in office as Florida’s chief executive. What mattered most to us were productive outcomes and strong leadership.
DeSantis’ witty remark, “At the end of the day, I would just advise them to go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night,” was met with enthusiastic applause. Fact: “It was the biggest Republican win in Florida history.”
After being asked about Trump’s attacks, DeSantis responded with a tone that was notably different from Trump’s post-midterms. According to Townhall, on Thursday night, as results from several pivotal states’ midterm elections were still being tallied, Trump issued a statement directed at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who had just defeated Democrat Charlie Crist in one of the few clear GOP victories on what was supposed to be a national “red wave” night in rejection of President Biden’s agenda.
Using his new nickname for DeSantis, “DeSanctimonious,” Trump introduced his lengthy statement by calling DeSantis “an average REPUBLICAN Governor with great Public Relations” who “has the advantage of SUNSHINE.” Trump voted for DeSantis in Florida this week. Also, Trump said, “people from badly governed States up North would move [to Florida] regardless of who the Governor was, just as I did.”
Trump went on to accuse Ron DeSanctimonious of “playing games!” by responding to inquiries about a Trump 2024 candidacy by claiming he was focused on his now hugely successful governor election and leading Florida. Trump has stated that this is “actually not the appropriate response” in terms of loyalty and class.
The answer DeSantis gave on Tuesday was more loyal and refined.