Florida governor Ron DeSantis responded to former US president Donald Trump’s attacks by asking him to “check the scoreboard” – an apparent reference to his landslide victory in the Florida gubernatorial polls where he was reelected by a huge margin.
Republican party leader DeSantis defeated Charlie Crist of the Democratic party by a 19-point margin, which is one of the biggest in a Florida gubernatorial race in four decades, the Hill said in a report.
Former US president Donald Trump criticised Ron DeSantis and said he is trying to ‘rewrite history’ – referring to the stance DeSantis has taken with respect to Covid-19, Covid vaccine and mask guidelines, LGBTQIA+ issues and race-related issues.
“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,” DeSantis was quoted as saying by the Hill.
“We won by the largest raw vote margin — over 1.5 million votes — than any governor candidate has ever had in Florida history,” DeSantis further added.
He said elected representatives have to make all kinds of decisions and “steer the ship” and people are able to judge those elected representatives based on those decisions.
DeSantis did not clarify whether he was referring to Donald Trump’s failed reelection bid in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Trump announced in November 2022 that he will run for president and is running for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024.
DeSantis is yet to announce a presidential bid but many experts told US-based news media outlets that once the Florida state assembly wraps up its legislative session, an announcement could be made.
Trump last week said DeSantis closed down Florida for a long period while other Republican governors kept their states open. However, DeSantis reopened Florida earlier compared to several other American states.
Trump also said that if it was not for him then DeSantis would not have been elected as Florida governor in 2018, referring to his endorsement for the Republican. He was campaigning in New Hampshire and South Carolina last week, where he also called DeSantis ‘disloyal’.
It should be noted that DeSantis has not mentioned the former president directly and has largely ignored Trump’s criticism towards him. Experts feel he is the biggest threat to Trump’s campaign in the 2024 US elections.
