Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) had one heck of an Election Day, sealing his second term as governor by trouncing Charlie Crist by nearly 20 points.
But it didn’t take long for the 2024 presidential wars to start, as former President Donald Trump — on multiple occasions since the election — has fired shots at DeSantis, who is expected to be Trump’s most formidable competitor should the two find themselves vying for the GOP nomination in ’24.
Trump most recently nicknamed him “Ron DeSanctimonious,” which drew mixed reviews from Republican voters. Some want Trump to keep it up and emerge the party’s victor in ’24, while others said it was too soon to fire at someone who could be better served working alongside Trump.
DeSantis was praised for remaining silent in the face of those attacks. However, on Tuesday, that silence finally ended.
At a press conference on Tuesday at Fort Walton Beach High School, DeSantis was asked by a reporter about his thoughts on Trump’s recent digs. The popular Florida governor wrote it off as nothing more than political “noise.”
WATCH: DeSantis reacts to recent attacks by Trump:
“I would just tell people to go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night. The fact of the matter is, it was the greatest Republican victory in the history of the state of Florida."pic.twitter.com/XkclluGeBN
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 15, 2022
“One of the things I’ve learned in this job: when you’re leading and getting things done, you take incoming fire. That’s just the nature of it,” DeSantis responded.
He added, “What you learn is — all that’s just noise. What matters is: are you leading and getting in front of issues? Are you delivering results for people and standing up for folks? If you do that, none of that stuff matters. That’s what we’ve done. We’re focused on results and leadership.”
“At the end of the day, I’d tell people to go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night,” he continued.
He continued by pointing out how well Republicans in Florida did on Election Day and suggested that, given the disappointing results from around the country, other Republicans might want to emulate how GOP candidates do things in the Sunshine State, taking yet another subtle shot at Trump in the process.
“Good policies and good leadership can reverberate beyond your silos of just people that agree with you,” DeSantis said.
Trump is expected to make a big announcement on Tuesday evening from Mar-a-Lago. Many believe it will be his formal 2024 presidential campaign announcement.
“Hopefully TODAY will turn out to be one of the most important days in the history of our Country!” Trump wrote Tuesday morning on Truth Social.
Many have warned that if the two major Republican influencers go head to head over the next two years, it could cause an irreparable rift in the Republican Party.
Hopefully, the two Republican powerhouses can ultimately figure out how to bring GOP voters together and continue focusing on draining the establishment swamp, a noble and worthy goal both men have embraced.
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