Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will reportedly hold an “intimate dinner” with some of his top donors this weekend amid speculation of a 2024 Presidential run.
Riding high after his overwhelming re-election victory in November, The Washington Post reports that DeSantis will hold the first of what may be a series of invite-only meetings with donors this Sunday. Invitations to the dinner make no mention of a 2024 run, however, describing meetings as chances to celebrate the governor’s win with some of his “strongest supporters.”
This is on-message for DeSantis, who has repeatedly brushed off questions and speculation about a 2024 presidential bid. Despite this, Trump has preemptively lashed out at the Florida Governor, dubbing him “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
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Following DeSantis’s victory during the midterms and the Republicans’ national underperformance, Trump continued his assault. Trump called DeSantis “an average REPUBLICAN Governor with great Public Relations” in a post-election day statement.
“And now, Ron DeSanctimonious is playing games! The Fake News asks him if he’s going to run if President Trump runs, and he says, ‘I’m only focused on the Governor’s race, I’m not looking into the future.’ Well, in terms of loyalty and class, that’s really not the right answer.”
Trump also lorded DeSantis’s humble beginnings over him in a Truth Social post, saying DeSantis came to him in 2017 in “desperate shape” ahead of his first gubernatorial election and Trump “fixed his campaign.”
DeSantis has refused to take the bait, sticking to his guns by touting his record and never mentioning Trump’s name.
“I think what you learn is all of that is just noise, and really what matters is are you leading, are you getting in front of issues, are you delivering results for people, and are you standing up for folks. At the end of the day, I would just tell people to go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night.”
A new poll from Marquette Law School indicates DeSantis would now have the upper hand over Trump if he chooses to run for president. DeSantis enjoyed a 10-point lead over Trump among Republican voters in the poll in a 55%-45% split. His lead increased among the general electorate, with 63% of voters saying they would rather see DeSantis as the GOP pick over Trump, who received only 36% support in the survey.
However, these results should be taken with a grain of salt, as a lot can change from now until 2024. As it stands, DeSantis has continued to maintain that he’s focused on Florida.
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