Florida’s Governor is arguing that not only is he part of the new generation of Republican leadership, he’s heading it with his “blueprint for success.”
Ron DeSantis was asked to respond to statements from presidential candidate Nikki Haley and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders that used the “new generation” trope, and he pointed to his record in Florida as the prime example of that forward thinking.
“Well, I think what we’ve done in Florida is really show that here. … Now, we’ve had a lot of success in Florida long before I was here and I appreciate a lot of that,” DeSantis said.
“But I think I was able to come in at a time where we’re able to take the bull by the horns, navigate a lot of significant issues from COVID-19 to all these other things and do it in a way that’s leading the nation on issue after issue,” DeSantis added. “And so we’ve established here in Florida a blueprint for success that other states can follow, and you don’t even need to get into the nitty gritty of everything we’ve done.”
In case people wanted to get into the “nitty gritty,” however, DeSantis Wednesday promoted his upcoming HarperCollins release, The Courage to Be Free.
“I do think we’ve been able to come in and for those of you who are interested in learning more about this story, I actually have a book coming out that talks a little bit about it. But I do think that that we were just given the opportunity to really run with this and take kind of the model of Florida from being one that is really full spectrum dealing with all the issues that matter to so many people.”
While Gov. Sanders’ statement drew a national audience as the official Republican response to the State of the Union address, it’s likely that Haley’s statement will have more resonance, given her just launched campaign.
Despite Haley entering the 2024 race early, DeSantis said Tuesday that he was not willing to divulge when or if he will launch his expected White House run. Teasing the reporter who asked, he said “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
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