Gov. Ron DeSantis reaffirmed that President Joe Biden won the presidential election in 2020, seemingly negating Donald Trump’s claims that he won, and NBC News was all over it.
(Video Credit: NBC News)
DeSantis is Trump’s primary contender currently in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, but it’s not even close at this point with the former president leading by double digits.
Appearing on NBC Nightly News during a broadcast set to air on Monday evening, the Florida governor stated that “of course” Trump lost the election. NBC News correspondent Dasha Burns was seeking to pin DeSantis on the issue concerning whether he thought Biden actually won the election in 2020.
“Whoever puts their hand on the Bible on Jan. 20 every four years is the winner,” the conservative candidate answered initially.
“But respectfully, you did not clearly answer that question,” Burns said. “And if you can’t give a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on whether or not he lost —”
It’s not whether or not he lost that’s the issue. It’s whether or not the election was rigged so that he WOULD lose. That’s a concern for future voting. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter. Those who hold the strings let us vote to make us feel good, but they determine the outcome.
— Bobbie Evans (@BobbieE20238239) August 7, 2023
“No, of course, he lost,” DeSantis responded, adding, “Joe Biden’s the president.”
It’s an answer that may not play well with Republicans as many believe Trump won whether they support him or not.
DeSantis’ response follows Trump being indicted for the third time last week. The latest 45-page indictment alleges Trump led a campaign of “dishonest, fraud and conceit” to obstruct a “bedrock function of a democracy.”
“I’ve said many times the election is what it is,” the Florida governor said, responding to a reporter’s question after a campaign event in Iowa on Friday. “All those theories that were put out did not prove to be true.”
(Video Credit: Charles R. Downs)
DeSantis addressed ballot harvesting, mail-in ballots, and Zucker-bucks during the interview. He also slammed Hunter Biden and the scandals surrounding him.
“I think what people in the media and elsewhere, they want to act like somehow this was just like the perfect election. … I don’t think it was a good-run election,” he remarked. “But I also think Republicans didn’t fight back. You’ve got to fight back when that is happening.”
The Hill reported, “Additionally, DeSantis blamed Trump for the loss, shining a spotlight on Trump’s signing of the CARES Act, the $2 trillion COVID relief package signed into law in March 2020. About $400 million went to help states with election administration, with many states making voting by mail more widely available during the pandemic.”
“But here’s the issue that I think is important for Republican voters to think about: Why did we have all those mail votes? Because … Trump turned the government over to Fauci,” the Florida governor charged. “They embraced lockdowns. They did the CARES Act, which funded mail-in ballots across the country.”
DeSantis didn’t fully take the bait on attacking Trump and insisted that “it’s not really about Donald Trump” and emphasized his opposition to a justice system that “is not fair if it is weaponized.”
He also warned that focusing too much on Trump and his indictments is very dangerous for the GOP.
DESANTIS: The former president “did do a lot of great things and I was a big supporter. But he’s running in 2024 on the things that he promised to do in 2016 and DIDN’T DO.”
You don’t want to miss this: pic.twitter.com/1Lduq6Jb1s
— DeSantis War Room (@DeSantisWarRoom) August 5, 2023
“If the election is a referendum on Joe Biden’s policies and the failures that we’ve seen and we are presenting a positive vision for the future, we will win the presidency and we will have a chance to turn the country around,” DeSantis asserted.
“If, on the other hand, the election is not about Jan. 20, 2025, but Jan. 6, 2021, or what document was left by the toilet at Mar-a-Lago, if it’s a referendum on that, we are going to lose,” he continued.
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