Florida Gov. DeSantis has repeatedly proven himself a political force to be reckoned with. He’s successfully taken on COVID restrictions, woke schools, and Disney. Now, he’s also proven his chops in publishing.
In its first week, DeSantis’s political memoir, The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Survival, has outsold books by Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton, according to a report from Business Insider, which reviewed the sales figures.
According to the report, DeSantis’s memoir “sold 94,300 copies in its first week, according to NPD BookScan, which tracks retail sales of US print books. The numbers go up to March 4 and include pre-orders but not e-books that people download onto their Kindles or other electronic devices.”
In comparison, Donald Trump’s 2015 campaign book, Crippled America, sold 27,687 copies during its first week, according to BookScan. Trump was launching his ultimately successful White House bid at the time.
Hillary Clinton’s memoir, Hard Choices, which covered her years as Barack Obama’s Secretary of State before she ran unsuccessfully for president again in 2016, sold 86,200 copies in its first week.
Barack Obama’s much-lauded memoir, The Audacity of Hope, sold 67,500 copies in its first week of sales, according to BookScan.
DeSantis has been promoting his memoir in what is widely seen as a precursor to launching a national political campaign. He recently spoke to a full house at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where he mocked California Gov. Gavin Newsom on his home turf.
“I knew you guys got a lot of problems out here, but your governor is very concerned about what we’re doing in Florida, so I figured I had to come by,” DeSantis joked at the beginning of his speech.
He then cited Reagan’s understanding that government has a vital role to play, but noted that it can be a “negative force if not applied properly.” That understanding, he said, guided him during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And I think if you look over the last four or five years, and you look at the performances of individual states, and you compare Florida versus California, New York, Illinois, some of those other states, we have had a great experiment, a great test in governing philosophies,” DeSantis said. “Because, of course, you know, we approach things much differently in Florida than you guys have out here, much differently in Florida than they’ve done in New York and in Illinois.”
DeSantis hasn’t officially announced his candidacy, but things continue to look like he will ultimately run for the GOP nomination in 2024, and writing a book is seen as a rite of passage for any serious presidential contender. Based on the sales of his book, he comes into the 2024 presidential race from a position of tremendous strength.
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