After reelection, DeSantis eyes Donald Trump’s 2024 bid

Photo by: Gage Skidmore

Republican Ron DeSantis demolished the Democrat Charlie Crist, who challenged his reelection bid in the Florida gubernatorial race.

DeSantis won over Crist with a stunning margin of almost 20 percent. This was the largest victory in a Florida gubernatorial race since 2002. The Republican governor also prevailed in the Democratic stronghold of Miami-Dade County.

“Once DeSantis is reelected, nothing will be able to stop him from enacting even more extreme policies than he has in the past,” said Sean Shaw, a former Democratic Florida House member from Tampa.

“Floridians can count on seeing more radical proposals that restrict access to voting, ban abortion and keep costs high by helping out big insurance companies while leaving Floridians to foot the bill.”

Now, presumptions lead to DeSantis’ national ambitions to meet head-on with former President Donald Trump, who is expected to announce a 2024 White House run in mid-November or sooner.

DeSantis and Trump have engaged in a kind of political cold war. The governor rallied separately across the state, and Trump refused to invite DeSantis to a rally for Rubio held in Miami over the weekend.

Trump even resorted to name-calling, giving the governor a new nickname, “DeSanctimonious.”

“If I faced him, I’d beat him like I would beat everyone else,” Trump said. “I think most people would drop out; I think he would drop out.”

On the other hand, DeSantis has not shown the same deference to Trump that GOP candidates typically show to the former president. DeSantis did not seek Trump’s support in his 2022 reelection campaign.

However, DeSantis is yet to publically announce his 2024 bid, while Donald Trump can’t stop talking about it.

DeSantis might choose to play this carefully and wait to see how well Trump's campaign gets on.

How do you feel about DeSantis running for president?

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