2024 Republicans Are Becoming Critical of DeSantis: Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has emerged as the early favorite to win the Republican nomination for president in 2024, and other contenders and their allies are intensifying their criticism of him.
DeSantis has recently come under fire from influential GOP colleagues including New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. DeSantis has also irked former President Trump, who is running for office once more and sees DeSantis as possibly his toughest challenge to winning the GOP nomination.
DeSantis hasn’t made up his mind about running for president and is probably still months away from announcing his plans. However, the most recent critique highlights how much the Florida governor’s profile has grown and portends a possibly contentious primary season for the party in 2024.
In an emerging presidential election, it’s common for potential contenders to test out attack strategies against potential opponents. But seasoned Republican strategist Keith Naughton said that it makes it apparent who they view as their biggest threat.
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According to Naughton, “They’re looking for something; just trying things out to see if they can generate some traction.” They want to give themselves a chance by slightly slowing down DeSantis. The problem is, I don’t believe that will be simple to accomplish.
In a recent interview with Fox News, Sununu aimed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, saying that while he ultimately supported the governor’s efforts to combat “woke” policies—a term that has become synonymous with DeSantis’s political persona—stance DeSantis’s against private companies that disagree with him crosses a line.
Sununu, who just finished a victorious reelection campaign, said Fox News: “Look, I come from the ‘Live Free or Die state, and private enterprises should and should act like private businesses without the fear of being punished by individuals who might disagree with them.
Although I believe Ron is correct on many points, punishing private companies for disagreeing with a policy or other problem is not, in my opinion, where Americans want to go. It is challenging to ignore Sununu’s comments in their context. He acknowledged having discussions about running for president in 2024 and that he has been asked about doing so during the same interview.
Another 2024 candidate, Noem, launched a vicious attack on DeSantis last week over the Florida governor’s abortion record. The attack made headlines. The spokesperson, Ian Fury, charged DeSantis with doing little to restrict abortion in Florida despite the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights case, in a statement to the conservative National Review.
Where had Governor DeSantis been? Hid behind a 15-week suspension,” Fury alleged. Does he think that babies that are 14 weeks old don’t deserve to live? DeSantis signed a law prohibiting abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy last year, while he has said he is open to supporting a tighter restriction on the procedure.
Despite Trump’s presence in the race, DeSantis has established himself as an early frontrunner even though the Iowa caucuses, the first nominating contest of the 2024 primary season, are still more than a year away. DeSantis is ahead of Trump in a recent survey comparing the two candidates, which indicates danger for the former president.
Trump, whose support helped DeSantis win the 2018 governor’s race, is displeased with DeSantis’ rising popularity among Republicans as well as his persistent refusal to reveal his political aspirations. After DeSantis won his reelection bid by an astounding 19 points in November, Trump launched an attack, accusing DeSantis of engaging in political games and giving him the moniker “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
‘I’m only focused on the Governor’s election, I’m not looking into the future,’ he declares. That’s not the correct response, according to loyalty and class, Trump remarked in a protracted statement. Naturally, there is no assurance that DeSantis will continue to be the front-runner. Many former front-runners in presidential contests have disappointed, clearing the way for rivals in the past.
For instance, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush seemed to be the front-runner in the battle for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination in the middle of 2015. Trump’s vicious insults and a weak campaign ultimately caused him to withdraw from the race before Florida’s primary ever took place.
It’s also not a guarantee that voters will continue to be focused on the concerns raised by DeSantis’ surge, namely his resistance to COVID-19 limits and attention to culture war themes, in the months ahead.
DeSantis critic Thomas Kennedy, a member of the Florida Democratic National Committee, claimed that “so much of his brand is tied to COVID and the culture wars.” “I believe that over time, most of that information will become obsolete and will be replaced by new problems. How much of this is going to be outdated or simply not be relevant in a year?
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DeSantis may be winning head-to-head polls against Trump, but surveys looking at a larger field of Republican contenders show him trailing the outgoing president. In a multi-candidate primary that also featured potential contenders like former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Ted Cruz, according to a November Emerson College survey, Trump received 55% of the vote (R-Texas). DeSantis received 25% of the vote, placing him in second place.
One Republican strategist who has worked on presidential campaigns said, “I believe there is a sense that DeSantis isn’t bulletproof and that there’s still room for other candidates.” “You know, yes, if it’s DeSantis and Trump, DeSantis looks extremely fantastic, the polling kind of supports that, you know. There are no assurances, though, in a larger field.