Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis tamped down speculation that he is positioning himself for a 2024 presidential run, writing off talk of such a bid as “nonsense.”
“All the speculation about me is purely manufactured,” DeSantis said during a press conference Tuesday, one among several he has conducted recently to encourage the use of monoclonal antibody regimens to treat COVID-19.
“I just do my job, you know, we work hard. Obviously, our state has led on a lot of things,” he said. “I hear all this stuff, and honestly, it’s nonsense.”
DeSantis’s response to the coronavirus pandemic significantly elevated his public profile over the last year and a half as he eschewed and criticized lockdowns and stricter containment policies that many Democratic-led states adopted to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
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The governor’s opposition to mandates and deference to personal preference on the questions of vaccination and masking, particularly of school children, continue to play to sympathies held among parts of the Republican base.
During the recent spikes in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Florida and other states, DeSantis publicly faced off against Biden administration officials, including President Joe Biden himself. Fundraising visits to various states, including “battleground” Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, have only added fuel to media speculation about a presidential bid.
The 2024 Republican presidential field is still undefined, with many expecting former President Donald Trump to enter the race. Trump has not said whether he will run, but he has entertained the idea and ratcheted up his criticism of Biden over the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Trump also told Sean Hannity last month the Fox News host and other of their “friends” will be “happy” about what he has decided regarding 2024.
As for DeSantis’s role in 2024, Trump has not been totally quiet, having once floated the idea of DeSantis being a potential running mate in the next election.
“I endorsed Ron, and after I endorsed him, he took off like a rocket ship,” Trump said in April. “He’s done a great job as governor. They like that … I’m just saying what I read and you read. They love that ticket.”
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Trump ally and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows asserted later that DeSantis is only concerned with governing Florida.
“Gov. DeSantis has made it very, very clear that he is running for reelection as governor of Florida, but he doesn’t shy away from being very bold in terms of the initiatives that he’s putting forth,” Meadows told the Washington Examiner in June, citing time he spent with DeSantis on a trip to California. “His reelect for governor is a platform to show that the policies, and the boldness, and, quite frankly, the courage.”
