Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued his toughest attacks thus far on former President Donald Trump this Thursday, blaming him for his 2020 presidential election loss and suggesting he doesn’t have what it takes to be president once more.
DeSantis, who is also running for president in the 2024 race, offered up the unexpected criticism during a campaign event in Tampa with 60+ Florida sheriffs.
Listen to some of what he had to say below:
In the clip, he started by first articulating what he believes to be the real reasons that President Joe Biden won the last presidential election.
“A voter that goes to 10 rallies, their vote counts the same as somebody who’s enthusiastic who then goes and votes. And we just have to understand that. And people will act like 2020 — they’ll act like Biden was such a disaster. But here’s the thing. I don’t think anybody voted for Biden. They were voting against Trump,” he said.
“That’s why they did it. Let’s just be honest. He energized Democrats. You could have John Kennedy walk in the door right now, and he wouldn’t energize Democrats as much as Donald Trump does. That’s just the reality,” he added.
He then contrasted Trump’s loss on the national stage to the way he himself has crushed Democrats in the state of Florida.
“What did we do in Florida with these Democrats? We defeated these Democrats. We left the Democratic Party in Florida in a pile of ruins. They’re dead. In fact, if you go back 2019, 2020, the Democrats had like 300,000 more registrations than we did as Republicans. … By the time I got reelected in November, we had 300,000 more Republicans than Democrats,” he said.
“And we never had more Rs than Ds in Florida history. We did that with me being governor. But here’s the best part: 300,000 advantage. Today that advantage is 600,000. We’ve added another 300,000 advantage in one year. I mean, are you kidding me?” DeSantis concluded.
Watch the full event below:
Ron DeSantis Holds Campaign Event with Florida Sheriffs in Tampa, FL https://t.co/tvA8zAsTn2
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) October 5, 2023
Elsewhere during the same event, the governor suggested Trump lacks the energy to be president again.
“We need a president that’s going to be full throttle for eight years. We don’t need any more presidents that have lost the zip on their fastball,” he said.
He also took a swing at Trump for demanding that the other GOP presidential primary candidates drop out and that the Republican National Committee cancel all remaining primary debates.
He specifically said nobody’s entitled to the presidency, “especially anybody that couldn’t even stop Joe Biden.”
DeSantis also addressed a report from Trump’s campaign that it’d raised over $45.5 in the third quarter of this year — $30+ million more than the $15 million raised by the governor — by arguing that the money he’s raised is “being spent on actually delivering the victories that we know we need.”
Conversely, he argued, Trump’s fundraising is likely going toward his legal expenses.
The former president’s team has not taken kindly to the governor’s tough remarks.
“Ron DeSantis has the energy of [a] used wet rag. This is nothing more than a desperate attempt of a flailing candidate who is in the last throes of his campaign. This tough guy routine from DeSantis is laughable, because the only thing tough about him is his ability to embarrass himself every single day on the campaign trail, ” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said in an angry statement.
“Ron DeSantis has the energy of a used wet rag.” https://t.co/2oNov94vZz pic.twitter.com/NZuMRbhGld
— Steven Cheung (@TheStevenCheung) October 6, 2023
Meanwhile, the governor’s event was reportedly heckled by outspoken Trump supporter Laura Loomer.
“Loomer, a staunch Donald Trump supporter, on Thursday took a bullhorn at the former President’s Republican rival Ron DeSantis’ fundraiser in Tampa. She could be seen screaming and shouting slogans as the Florida Governor addressed a crowd,” Times Now reported.
However, she later faced criticism for yelling in her bullhorn even as the attendees of the fundraiser were holding a prayer:
WATCH! I called out Laura Loomer when she interrupted prayer and the pledge of allegiance at the DeSantis event today in Tampa!
Hey @LauraLoomer.. if DeSantis is SO FAR behind and not a threat to Trump, why all this energy spent attacking him and his supporters? ♂️ pic.twitter.com/CLtXxCNxsQ
— Chris Nelson (@ReOpenChris) October 5, 2023
Laura Loomer interrupts a prayer service for fallen police officers prior to a DeSantis press conference to yell incoherently on the bullhorn. Utterly disrespectful. pic.twitter.com/TL9prXFTW2
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 6, 2023
As of Friday morning, Trump had not yet personally responded to the governor’s attacks, though knowing him, an attack of his own is no doubt imminent.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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