Former President Donald Trump recently took to Truth Social platform and wrote the following: “Under Ron DeSanctimonious as Governor, Florida was the third WORST State in Deaths by Covid. So why do they say that DeSanctus did a good job? New York had fewer deaths! Also, he shut down the State, and even its beaches (unlike other Republican Governors).”
Meanwhile, Ron DeSantis said he plans to “counterpunch” against former President Donald Trump’s attacks after kicking off his 2024 campaign in Iowa on Tuesday.
RonDesantis takes shot at Donald Trump
The Florida governor poked fun at his top rival at his first official campaign event. But speaking to reporters after the event, he had plenty to say about Trump, unloading a series of blows designed to depict him as selfish, unprincipled and petty.
“I think our voters are looking at this and they say, yeah we appreciate what he did, but we also recognize there are a lot of voters that just aren’t gonna ever vote for him,” DeSantis told reporters. “I know people in Florida who voted against me in ’18 and for me in ‘22. They said in ‘18, ‘I thought you were too much like him and in ‘22 we realized you were your own guy, we’re gonna do it.’”
DeSantis said he thinks Trump’s constant attacks on him would ultimately backfire.
“I can count the number of Republicans in this country on my hand that would rather have lived in New York under (Democratic Gov. Andrew) Cuomo than lived in Florida in our freedom zone,” DeSantis said, alluding to Trump’s recent suggestions that Florida fared worse than New York under Cuomo during the Covid-19 pandemic. “If we just decided the caucuses on that, I would be happy with that verdict by Iowa voters.”
As the opening contest in the GOP nominating fight, Iowa holds a unique role in sizing up the presidential field, even if it has not proven to be predictive of the eventual nominee.
But with a former president seeking a return to the White House for the first time in a century, the Hawkeye State will be closely watched for any sign that Trump’s hold on Republican voters is slipping.
During his scripted remarks, DeSantis offered familiar culprits for the societal ills he has railed against as governor – wokeism, leftism and diversity initiatives – while painting a dark picture of the country that he said is “going in the wrong direction” and “infected” by “leftism.”
“We can’t have every major institution going on ideological joy rides,” he said. “We have to be guided by reality. Merit must trump identity politics. No American should have to compete in the woke Olympics just to get a job or to get into school.”
He vowed to exorcize the country of these so-called ideological agendas, while promising unspecified accountability for the country’s response to the pandemic, to reign in federal bureaucracies and to finish the border wall that Trump started.
“If I’m president, this will finally be the time where we bring this issue to a conclusion. We will reestablish the sovereignty of this nation,” DeSantis said.
