Trump: I would defeat DeSantis ‘like I would beat everyone else’

Ex-President Trump said if Gov. Ron DeSantis challenged him for the 2024 Republican nomination, “I’d beat him like I would beat everyone else.”

In an interview with Yahoo Business, Trump added he didn’t expect DeSantis would actually run if he decided to make another bid for the White House.

“I don’t think I will face him,” Trump said. “I think most people would drop out; I think he would drop out.”

Helen Aguirre Ferre, executive director of the Republican Party of Florida, said in response to Trump’s comments that “Gov. DeSantis is only focused on Florida and winning [reelection] in 2022.”

The comments came as DeSantis has been increasingly seen as appealing to the Trump base of the Republican Party with policies such as the controversial “antiriot” and Big Tech social media censorship laws, both of which have been temporarily blocked by judges.

Trump did not officially announce he was running, as campaign finance laws about contributions would immediately kick in. But the interview was another warning for DeSantis.

The Florida governor, who jumped to the top of the 2018 gubernatorial field following a single Trump tweet endorsement, has edged Trump in at least one conservative straw poll at the Western Conservative Summit 2021 in Denver in June.

But at both Conservative Political Action Conference events this year, in Orlando and Dallas, Trump was the overwhelming choice over DeSantis for 2024 when he was on the ballot. Without

Trump, DeSantis topped the other contenders, including former Vice President Mike Pence.

Pence could serve as a cautionary tale for DeSantis. The former vice president has been attacked by Trump and his supporters for not going along with Trump’s false claims of fraud and his false belief that Pence could have declared Trump the winner over Joe Biden on Jan. 6, shortly after the pro-Trump riot at the Capitol.

“I would think that DeSantis would not run if Trump ran, and particularly if Trump gets in first,” said Aubrey Jewett, a professor of political science at the University of Central Florida. “... DeSantis is starting to grow out of Donald Trump’s shadow a little bit. But having said that, I think that Trump still has such devoted and passionate supporters, that they would take a dim view on another Republican running against Trump.”

DeSantis has been trying to “make sure that he stays on the good side of Trump and Trump’s supporters,” Jewett said. “Many of the actions that he has taken as governor in the last year, some pandemic-related but many not pandemic-related, seem to be designed to appeal to that particular group.”

Jewett added, “Even if you could work out a scenario where DeSantis could beat Trump in a Republican nomination battle, I think it would do irreparable harm to his overall chances because it would tick off so many Trump supporters even if he even if he won.”

DeSantis said Thursday on Fox News finally confirmed that he was running for reelection as governor next year, but has not yet officially filed.