BRADENTON, FLORIDA — Governor Ron DeSantis addressed recent accusations from former President Donald Trump that the governor was “trying to rewrite history” about his COVID-19 response. At a rally in South Carolina on Saturday, Trump told reporters that “Florida was closed for a long period of time” during the early months of the onset of COVID.
Speaking at a press conference in Bradenton on Tuesday, DeSantis was asked by a reporter about the former president’s criticism of his COVID policies. The governor, who has largely ignored Trump’s barbs in recent months, did not mention Trump by name in his comments, but instead pointed to his landslide victory as tantamount to Floridians approving of his COVID response.
“If you take a crisis situation like COVID, the good thing about it is when you’re an elected executive, you have to make all kinds of decisions. You’ve got to steer that ship. And the good thing is that the people are able to render a judgment on whether they reelect you or not,” DeSantis said.
“I’m happy to say, you know, in my case, not only did we win reelection, we won with the highest percentage of the vote that any Republican governor candidate has in the history of the state of Florida.”
WATCH - DeSantis Responds to Trump Attacks
— The First (@TheFirstonTV) January 31, 2023
"When you’re an elected executive, you have to steer the ship. People are able to render a judgment on that, whether they re-elect you or not… That verdict has been rendered by the people of the state of Florida." pic.twitter.com/Nm7Lptt5yQ
SOCIAL MEDIA REACTION
Conservatives have been posting their reactions to the internal GOP feud on social media.
Radio show host Sebastian Gorka tweeted a video clip from a DeSantis press conference in 2020 announcing statewide shutdowns despite Trump’s recommendation to restrict only “hot-zones.”
I guess poor little Guy never saw this video.
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) January 31, 2023
From DeSantis himself.
Confessing that President Trump told him only to shut done “hot-zones.”
And Ron says:
“NOPE! I’m shutting down the whole state!”
We have all the receipts. https://t.co/mJzZA5IQyl pic.twitter.com/Ty1tYi9kuY
Laura Loomer, a former congressional candidate in Florida, shared a 2018 campaign ad in which DeSantis referenced his support for Trump numerous times.
When Ron DeSantis files to run against Donald Trump for President in 2024, all Trump will need to do is run this ad on replay throughout the country and say,
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) January 31, 2023
“I’m Donald Trump, and it’s great to have my opponent’s endorsement for President. PS. You’re fired, RON! MAGA!” pic.twitter.com/ELsPBlTlDN
DeSantis supporters attacked Trump for pushing the COVID vaccines and for supporting World Economic Forum leader Klaus Schwab. Pundit Ian Miles Cheong tweeted: “Trump claims that DeSantis is a globalist but here is Trump praising the world’s biggest globalist, Klaus Schwab, saying ‘Klaus has done a fantastic job.’”
Another user argued that both men made mistakes, but that more emphasis should be placed on current issues, tweeting: “You can make valid criticisms of both DeSantis and Trump on Covid policy. Trump signed and promoted the CARES Act. DeSantis did lockdowns. I’m not interested in looking back. I wanna know who’s going to savage the decarbonizationists, the bureaucracies, and higher ed the most.”
