Florida’s Governor isn’t holding back when it comes to criticisms of the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.
During an interview with WORD’s “The Tara Show,” Gov. Ron DeSantis lashed out at Mitt Romney for leaning toward Nikki Haley in the 2024 Republican Primary race.
“Well, look, Romney, you know, he’s attacked me as saying, I mean, I don’t even know. He uses, like, the left-wing clichés to do that. I don’t really know Mitt Romney. But clearly, he views Nikki as more in line with what the direction he wants to go, which to me is just a surrender caucus of Republicans who are never going to fight for anybody, who are going to go to D.C. and just let business as usual take hold. We cannot afford that. This country is declining,” DeSantis said.
“We have to reverse the decline. And we need a new birth of freedom here. But it’s not going to happen with kind of the same old, same old Republicans who’ve never fought for us in the beginning.”
Haley was a guest of the E2 summit hosted by Romney and former House Speaker Paul Ryan in October in Utah. DeSantis was not in attendance.
DeSantis’ derision of the Utah Senator comes after Romney ripped the Florida Governor in remarks widely publicized a few weeks back.
In a new book, Romney of Utah savaged the Florida Governor in various quotes, suggesting the Governor is a bad retail politician with a penchant for authoritarianism reminiscent of that displayed by former President Donald Trump.
“There’s just no warmth at all,” goes Romney’s initial read of the Governor, from McKay Coppins’ upcoming biography of the Senator, entitled “Romney: a Reckoning.”
“He looks like he’s got a toothache,” Romney said, describing the Governor’s “selfies” with Hawkeye State voters.
Romney, who famously has clashed with Trump for years, suggests that any gap between the former President and the Florida Governor is a distinction without a difference when it comes to political philosophy.
“He’s much smarter than Trump. … You might point out, ‘Mitt, DeSantis is real smart — do you want an authoritarian who’s smart or one who’s not smart?’ … I realize there’s a peril to having someone who’s smart and pulling in a direction that’s dangerous,” Romney told Coppins.
The DeSantis War Room has mocked Romney’s read of their client.
“Romney warns that Ron DeSantis is ‘dangerous’ and ‘authoritarian,’ presumably because he has enacted conservative policy instead of just talking about it,” read a post on the group’s X account.
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