Leading Republicans try to ignore Trump campaign launch

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Leading Republican officials on Wednesday sought to ignore Donald Trump’s formal step into the 2024 presidential contest, insisting there were more pressing priorities as GOP leaders grappled with the fallout of a major midterm disappointment.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said it was much too early for Republicans to focus on the next presidential election when asked about a brewing GOP divide during a news conference the morning after Trump’s announcement. Declining to say the former president’s name, DeSantis, a potential Trump rival in 2024, said he was focused instead on Georgia’s upcoming Senate runoff and his governing priorities in Florida.

“We just finished this election. People need to chill out a little bit on some of this stuff, I mean seriously,” DeSantis said. The 44-yearold Republican governor continued: “At the end of the day, it’s been a long election, we’ve got the Georgia runoff, but for me it’s like, OK, what more do we need to do to continue to make Florida lead the way? We’re going to be focusing on that.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine deflected a question about Trump’s announcement at the Republican Governors Association meeting in Orlando on Wednesday.

“It’s a little early to be commenting on the presidential race,” DeWine said as he walked into a forum on “The Future of the GOP.”

“We are still trying to analyze what happened a week ago,” said DeWine, who won his re-election by 25 points after refusing to embrace Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.

Trump won’t make it easy for his party to ignore 2024, however, even with the opening contests of the next presidential primary season likely more than a year away.

On the other side of the Capitol, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Trump loyalist who hopes to become the House speaker should the GOP seize that chamber’s majority, walked away from reporters on Wednesday when asked whether he would support Trump’s 2024 bid.