Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday fired back at Donald Trump’s attacks on Florida’s Covid response, calling it hypocritical that the former president would bash the state now after his family relocated there during the pandemic.
“This is new,” DeSantis said in response to a question about Trump’s remarks from a reporter at a press conference Tuesday. “Six months ago, he would have never said that, right? He used to say how great Florida was. Hell, his whole family moved to Florida under my governorship.”
Ahead of DeSantis’s 2024 presidential campaign kickoff speech, Trump blasted the governor’s management of Covid in a Truth Social post, after spending the last few years praising Florida for its freedom and economic prosperity while progressive states saw record population outflows.
“Under Ron DeSanctimonious as Governor, Florida was the third WORST State in Deaths by Covid,” Trump wrote. “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).”
DeSantis said Tuesday that Trump should spend less time criticizing top-performing principled Republicans and more time going after Biden for his dereliction of leadership.
“Look, if someone is saying that, I am gonna counterpunch. I am gonna fight back on it,” he said. “I am going to focus my fire on Biden, and I think he should do the same. He gives Biden a free pass. I am focusing on Biden. That’s my focus.”
DeSantis has been steadily gaining on Trump in the polls, although he still trails him by over 30 points, according to a polling average from FiveThirtyEight. The governor launched his presidential bid on Twitter after a massive online turnout overwhelmed the website servers and caused technical difficulties.
During his Tuesday night campaign-kickoff speech in Iowa, DeSantis took thinly veiled shots at Trump, although he did not call him out by name. DeSantis defended his record during Covid, when he kept Florida’s schools open and refused to accept the draconian dictates of Dr. Fauci, whom Trump consulted heavily in the early stages of the pandemic. DeSantis also touted the fact that he served in the military — a historical credential of presidents that Trump did not have.
“Leadership is not about entertaining. . . . It is about results,” DeSantis said, loosely repeating the lines from his campaign announcement that opened his 2024 bid last week.
“Governing is not entertainment,” he said then. “It’s not about building a brand or virtue-signaling. It’s about delivering results.”