Ron DeSantis says he can defeat older rival Donald Trump as the world waits to see whether the pair will have it out in the Republican Party leadership contest. The former president, 76, views the Florida Governor, 44, as his main competitor in the race to become the party’s presidential candidate. DeSantis has refused to clarify whether he would run in the contest but issued a stark warning to the ex-POTUS after largely ignoring his jibes.
In an interview with Piers Morgan airing on Fox Nation’s “Piers Morgan Uncensored” DeSantis made clear who the favourite would be.
He said: “If I were to run, I’m running against Biden.
“Like we [him and Trump] are competing for the Republican, potentially, I get that, but ultimately you know the guy I’m gonna focus on is Biden because I think he’s failed the country.
“I think the country wants a change. I think they want a fresh start and a new direction and so we’ll be very vocal about that.”
When asked whether he could beat US President Joe Biden, DeSantis responded: “I think so.”
It comes after the Florida Governor’s roaring success in the midterm elections. Now, he believes he could soar to those highs again in the Republican Party leadership contest.
DeSantis said: “I won with independents by 18 points, and so that will be the same formula that we would take, and honestly forget about me, I think anybody should take the formula like that nationally.
“You can’t win with just Republicans. You’ve gotta win with independents and you need to convince some of these Democrats, which I was able to do in Florida, because they’re not woke, they don’t like some of the nonsense going on.
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In what may have been an attempt to narrow the gap, DeSantis finally moved to take heavy fire at his closest political rival, attacking Trump’s record on his handling of coronavirus, his chaotic style of governing and his leadership in general.
He told Fox Nation: “We’re just not gonna have that. So, the way we run the government I think is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board.
“In terms of my approach to leadership, I get personnel in the government who have the agenda of the people and share our agenda. You bring your own agenda in you’re gone.”
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