TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — It’s been one month since Ron DeSantis announced his presidential candidacy. The Florida Standard counts 240 endorsements for Florida’s governor from legislators in Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida, Michigan, Oklahoma and today, South Carolina.
But DeSantis’ official announcement placed an even bigger target on his back as he began to campaign in early-voting states. While enthusiasm for his campaign to revive America continues to grow, so do the attacks from both the Left and the Right.
GOAL: “BEAT BIDEN”
When asked at a press conference today if he will pledge to support Trump as the GOP nominee if elected, DeSantis deflected and said his goal is to “beat Biden.”
“I will get that done,” DeSantis exclaimed. “And I think more importantly than that, I will actually bring these policies for a landing and get it all done up there.”
DeSantis went on to say that America’s situation is so dire that we must dig ourselves out of poor governance and get on better footing. But he also made sure to remind voters that while Donald Trump continues to allege that Governor Cuomo did better on COVID than Florida, “nobody believes that.”
“And you know why? I know that, because I remember in 2020–2021 he was praising Florida for being open, saying we did it much better than New York and Michigan… he used to say that all the time,” DeSantis said.
“Do you honestly find it credible?” DeSantis added. “I probably can count the number of Republicans on my hand in the nation who would have rather been under Cuomo in New York.”
EARLY MOMENTUM
In one month’s time, DeSantis has managed to build momentum in early-voting states, raise record amounts of cash and hold President Biden’s feet to the fire on hot-button issues such as the southern border and the woke indoctrination of American children.
Multiple state legislators have pointed to Florida’s leadership as a model for the nation, endorsing DeSantis as the only Republican in the country to fight back against the radical Left agenda.
“I think people realize that we need a change and we represent that change,” DeSantis told reporters today. “We’re off kilter. We can’t keep going like this.”
LASER-FOCUS ON POLICY
The governor has been laser-focused this first month on policy, issues important to everyday families and the notion that he represents “a restoration of sanity” and a “return to normalcy” in America.
“You can’t have communities being overrun by illegal aliens coming in,” DeSantis says. “You can’t have them be overrun by drugs and criminals. That’s not what community life is supposed to be.”
Florida’s governor is confident that voters want to see a president who is committed to the constitutional system – free from woke ideology – while restoring integrity into institutions like the military, the FBI and the DOJ.
Although he’s seeking the highest office of the land, DeSantis says he believes that to ensure effective and limited government, the three branches must be independent but work together to protect the rights and freedoms of American citizens.
“We don’t have an administrative state that gets to operate on its own, not by design,” DeSantis says. “It’s doing that [and] we’re going to restore proper integrity.”
RESPONSE TO CAMPAIGN ALLEGATIONS
Allegations have surfaced that staff in the governor’s executive office are using state resources to further his political campaign. But DeSantis says that such claims are “totally frivolous.”
“We have staff in the executive office of the governor who, in their private time, have wanted to do things to be able to help our campaign,” DeSantis said. “They have every right to do that.”
The governor elaborated that his current Chief of Staff James Uthmeier feels so strongly about helping the campaign that he’s out rustling up support on his own time.
“I think it shows, you know, these are people that have worked for us through the years and here we are and they’re rallying support for me,” DeSantis said. “That’s not true about every other candidate.”
DeSantis says other presidential candidates have previous staffers that are “running for the hills” and don’t want to be involved in any way with a campaign.
It’s also apparent after one month of campaigning that Florida’s First Lady Casey DeSantis could be the secret weapon in the race to the White House. On the campaign trail Casey shares endearing stories about Ron DeSantis, their three kids and why her husband is the right man for the job in 2024.
