Outgoing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) continued his post-election tear with calls for reform on pandering and “pay-to-play” punditry.
(Video Credit: Governor Ron DeSantis)
Regardless of the outcome of the midterm elections, a shift in focus for some to the 2028 presidential election was inevitable. As he swat down gossip about his own aspirations, DeSantis’ postmortem set to problem-solving, including aiming to do away with aspects of conservative media culture, “because a lot of that is a grift.”
Fresh off the Freedom State holding the line against the blue wave with Republican wins down ballot in statewide elections, America’s Governor traveled to South Bend, Indiana, on Saturday for his latest remarks at the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Citizenship & Constitutional Government.
After criticizing corporate media and accusing outlets of fabricating stories using anonymous sources when asked about his response to a story from The Washington Post about his alleged future plans, DeSantis went on to decry the influential grifters in conservative media harming causes on the right.
“I think you need more bottom-up, I think you need less focus on the presidency, and I think you need more focus on not just people running for elected office, people that are involved in the conservative groups,” said the governor, “I think we need a big change in kind of the conservative media culture because a lot of that is a grift, and it’s pay-to-play, and it’s just not offering very much in the way of strong ideas and things that are really gonna illuminate your understanding.”
“There’s all these different things that are not doing well on the right, and I think we deserve an American Right that’s fit to fight and is ready to go for what will be, just after Tuesday, it’s gonna be a decade of battles just to get to a point where we’re able to avert disaster and put us on a solid path that can be sustainable,” he went on.
After many were left stunned at how sweeping the success of Democrats was in the midterm elections, DeSantis was among those remaining grounded about the work ahead for the GOP to not only reclaim a majority, but to avoid losing more seats in falling short of building support.
Sharing a post from Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R) that listed the 18 Republican Senate seats up for re-election in 2028, the governor said, “Republicans could lose even more Senate seats in 2028 if the GOP doesn’t get its act together.”
Republicans could lose even more Senate seats in 2028 if the GOP doesn’t get its act together.
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) November 8, 2026
As the question-and-answer session progressed, DeSantis later spoke to the importance of vetting candidates, heaping further criticism on Vivek Ramaswamy for being included on the debate stage in the 2024 presidential cycle. The governor went on to say, “For us, there’s a segment in the media and a segment I think of folks out there, if you just tell ’em what they want to hear, doesn’t matter if you have a basis for it, doesn’t matter if you could ever accomplish it, just tell ’em what they want to hear — say the most outlandish things and somehow you’re gonna get support — that is not the way it is.”
“When you’re electing a leader, in a president, you’re electing the leader of the free world; you know, there should come with a little bit of weightiness to that. There should be a certain amount of gravitas that’s brought to that. But, there is just — you can inject, get on media, say the right things, it has no base,” he went on. “It doesn’t matter if you can do it. Doesn’t matter if you have a track record; you can get some traction doing that. That I don’t think is a good part of the process at all.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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