Vicky Arias, FISM News
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday hinted at a 2024 presidential run during an interview he gave on the Fox News segment, Fox & Friends.
DeSantis responded to a question regarding his presidential plans by explaining that he will not make an announcement about his plans for 2024 until after a planned book tour and legislative session in Florida.
“I’ve got two big things coming up,” DeSantis said. “One, I have a book coming out on Feb. 28…so we’re going to go on a tour [for] that,…and then on March 8, I have our legislative session that’s kicking off…This is going to be the most productive legislative session [Florida] has had…So [that’s] what we’re going to be doing over these next few months [and] as we get beyond that, then we can decide from there.”
WATCH: DeSantis responds to speculation about a 2024 presidential run, points to upcoming book release and productive legislative session pic.twitter.com/M5RK5abM1q
— Brendon Leslie (@BrendonLeslie) February 21, 2023
Florida’s legislative session is set to end on May 5, and it’s expected that DeSantis will make a presidential announcement after that.
The Florida governor also addressed global politics during his interview, which is seen by some as another hint that he is setting the stage for a future presidential run.
DeSantis commented on, among other things, the war in Ukraine.
The governor explained that President Biden is “very concerned about [Ukraine’s] borders halfway around the world [but] he’s not done anything to secure our own border here at home…They have, effectively, a blank check policy with no clear strategic objective identified and these things can escalate and I don’t think it’s in our interest to be getting into [a] proxy war…Just saying it’s an open-ended blank check – that is not acceptable.”
If Desantis does, in fact, throw his hat into the presidential ring, he will face off against former President Donald Trump. Trump, as is typical of his brash style, has attacked DeSantis in multiple speeches, preemptively striking against the person that polls show would be the greatest threat to his 2024 GOP nomination.
Trump recently gave a speech at a rally in Florida, where he once again referred to Gov. DeSantis as “Ron Desanctimonious,” and touted his lead in recent polls.
“Ron DeSanctimonious had a crowd in Staten Island today [of] 139 people,” Trump said. “We have 139 times about 30. We got a lot of people here…We had polls today come out… We’re number one on the Republican scale by a lot.”
Trump goes after DeSantis:
"Ron DeSanctimonious had a crowd in Staten Island today – 139 people in Staten Island… We got a lot of people here… I always say, hit your enemy a little bit early." pic.twitter.com/oTGfXju7Tg
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 21, 2023
According to The Hill, a poll released Friday “shows Trump leading DeSantis 46 percent to 23 percent,” reflecting “a 5-point drop in support for DeSantis since last month.”
DeSantis is currently touring Democrat-run areas to champion his pro-police agenda. He spoke in the New York City borough of Staten Island, Fort Washington, Penn., and Elmhurst, Ill.
CBS Chicago reported that, while speaking to a crowd of police officers in Elmhurst, a Chicago suburb, on Monday, DeSantis explained the importance of keeping the streets safe with a strong police force.
“You’re not going to have a good economy if the streets aren’t safe,” DeSantis said. “You’re not going to have a good education if people don’t feel safe. None of it works unless you have a foundation of public safety.”
During his Staten Island stop, DeSantis explained that crime in Florida has drastically dropped while crime rates in Democrat-run cities remain a major concern, according to Fox News.
“Florida right now has a crime rate that’s at a 50-year low,” DeSantis said. “Why do we have a 50-year low? Why is crime a big issue in New York or Chicago or all these other places?…The reason is…we support strong policies to keep our communities safe and we back the blue, and we support their mission, and we back it up with money and all kinds of stuff to be able to do it.”