TAMPA, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis has never made it a secret that his political fortunes have been tied to Donald Trump.
When he ran for Florida governor as a relative unknown in 2018, he touted his endorsement from Trump in a commercial that instantly gained him national recognition. The humorous ad featured his family as the candidate showed his daughter how to “build the wall” out of blocks and him reading “The Art of the Deal” to his then-4-month old son.
Three years later, Trump’s out of office and DeSantis’ popularity is surging so high he’s become the new favorite for Fox News while fueling speculation on whether the two might run together in 2024.
But the two have mostly avoided the topic of what would happen if the two ended up running against each other for the GOP nomination. DeSantis insists he’s not running for the job.
Over the weekend, however, Trump finally addressed what he thought of DeSantis in the same race against him. While he told Yahoo Finance in an interview that he’s still noncommittal, he did say that if he were to run, and DeSantis were to run, Trump would beat him.
“If I faced him, I’d beat him like I would beat everyone else,” Trump declared, even as he said he doesn’t actually expect a showdown.
“I don’t think I will face him,” he predicted about what DeSantis and other Republicans would do if he got into the race. “I think most people would drop out, I think he would drop out.”
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