Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump poked a stick at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) in a new video, highlighting the allure of the beautiful Sunshine State on its own merit.
“For those of you that didn’t notice, Florida was doing great long before Ron DeSanctus got there!” Trump stated.
He continued, “People are fleeing from New York to Florida and other places because of high taxes and out of control crime – it’s really bad. Not because of the governor – thank you Mr. President, for doing that. But it’s not because of the governor. Florida was doing fantastically.”
Trump highlighted former Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) and former Florida Governor Charlie Crist, noting that both of them “did a good job.”
Scott now serves as a U.S. senator, while Crist switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat following his time in office. In 2022, Crist went head-to-head against Gov. DeSantis and lost by a whopping 20-point spread.
“Sunshine and ocean are very alluring,” Trump added. “It’s not too hard to work with those factors. So, just remember, Florida was doing really well long before Ron DeSanctus got there.”
Monday’s video was preceded by a statement Trump posted to Truth Social, where he slammed DeSantis for staging a “public relations inspired battle with Disney.” Trump was referring to DeSantis’s months-long battle with the corporate megalith, resulting in Florida’s newest legislation (HB 9B), which stripped Disney’s special tax district privileges away.
“That’s the only reason he went after them in the first place, to show Mr. Tough Guy,” Trump explained. “Disney maintained complete exemption from property & sales tax, tax-free bonds, and their incredible fast track permitting. They also gave big political contributions to DeSanctus. The whole thing is a Hoax – They probably worked together to make him look like a fighter.”
While Governor DeSantis has not yet announced an intention to run for president, he has been touring the country for the past two weeks on an unofficial book tour, visiting states like California, Texas, Iowa, and Nevada.
According to WFLA, DeSantis is expected to announce a presidential candidacy in May 2023 after the conclusion of the Florida legislative session.
