Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dodged a question about whether he would support former President Donald Trump as the Republican nominee in the 2024 race for the White House.
DeSantis, another presidential hopeful, was asked by a reporter whether he would support Trump as the Republican nominee at a Thursday event. The governor targeted the former president over his recent criticism of Florida’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic, referencing former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“When you are saying that Cuomo did better on COVID than Florida did, you are revealing yourself to just be full of it. Nobody believes that. And you know why? And you know why I know that? Because I remember in 2020 and 2021 when he was praising Florida for being open,” DeSantis said.
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The Florida governor added later that “If you have to make that argument, then you probably don’t have very good arguments.”
“I want to beat Biden, OK? I will do that. I will get that done, and I think more importantly than that, I will actually bring these policies for a landing and get it all done up there,” he said.
Trump during his administration did praise DeSantis’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the former president has increasingly targeted DeSantis in recent months. Trump during an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier this week criticized the Florida governor’s management of the pandemic.
Trump has previously declined to say whether he would absolutely support the Republican 2024 presidential nominee if he doesn’t receive the party’s backing.