Florida’s Governor is continuing to disparage his main opponent in the 2024 Republican presidential race.
During remarks in Tampa, Ron DeSantis claimed that Joe Biden didn’t lose the election, so much as the former President lost it.
“I don’t think anyone voted for Biden. They were voting against Trump. That’s why they did it. Let’s be honest,” DeSantis said, noting that even a reanimated John F. Kennedy wouldn’t “energize” Democrats the way Trump did in 2020.
He went on to say that if Trump were elected, he’d be a “lame-duck President” and wouldn’t have the two-term runway DeSantis would have.
DeSantis also noted that while Trump “won by 3” in 2020, he “won by 20” in his re-election battle.
“We need a President that’s got energy. We need a President that’s going to be full throttle for eight years,” DeSantis said. “We don’t need any more Presidents that have lost the zip on their fastball.”
Asked about Trump’s fundraising advantage, meanwhile, DeSantis wondered how much of the money was going to “lawyers” for the former President’s various legal imbroglios.
These comments are the latest in a series in which the Governor derided Trump’s performance in 2020.
During a Sept. 28 interview on Fox News, the Florida Governor and 2024 presidential candidate contended that during the 2020 Election, the current Democratic President defeated Trump in the first debate of that cycle.
“You know, I remember back in 2020 I had a big party in Tallahassee for that first debate that Trump did with Biden. And the reality is Biden beat Trump in that debate, and I don’t know how you could lose to Biden in a debate. But that happened,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis did not say that Biden won the 2020 debate at the time, of course. But his willingness to embrace that talking point is the latest attempted provocation to the former President whose endorsement made him Governor.
Previously, DeSantis questioned a poll showing Trump ahead of Biden by nearly 10 points. Earlier this year, he finally admitted that “of course” Trump lost the 2020 Election.
During last week’s presidential debate, DeSantis said Biden was “completely missing in action from leadership. And you know who else is missing in action? Donald Trump is missing in action.”
“He owes it to you to defend his record where they added $7.8 trillion to the debt, (which) set the stage for the inflation that we have now,” DeSantis added.
Biden’s political team didn’t miss the opportunity to turn a selective DeSantis quote into an anti-Trump ad.
That’s right. pic.twitter.com/SI9hNEOEEJ
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 28, 2023
The post Ron DeSantis claims Joe Biden 2020 win was because people were ‘voting against Donald Trump’ appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..