Free Republic

On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, a former ally of Donald J. Trump, delivered a blistering critique of the former President, implying that Trump prioritizes personal loyalty over the nation’s welfare. In 2017, Donald Trump, who was then serving as President, threw his support behind Ron DeSantis in the race for Florida’s governorship. This endorsement from Trump was a significant boost for DeSantis, a tea-party conservative, enabling him to surpass the right-wing GOP candidate Adam Putnam, who was serving as Florida’s agriculture commissioner at the time, Politico reported. “Congressman Ron DeSantis is a brilliant...

Ron DeSantis has further alienated the America First conservatives he hoped to win over from Donald Trump’s base by disparaging January 6th protestors, denying they were motivated by patriotism.Speaking at a CNN town hall, the Florida Governor was asked if “the January 6th insurrections display[ed] patriotism, as some of them claim they did” by an audience member.“No, of course not,” DeSantis replied immediately. “I mean, that was not a good day for the country. I think the media has taken that, and I think the left has taken that, and really tried to politicize it, but it was not a...

“If I had been President, none of that would have happened. Obviously, I would have won the election against Joe Biden and we wouldn’t have been in those situations to begin with,” said DeSantis, who was in the middle of his first term as Governor in 2021. DeSantis also chastised the former President for the decision “to invite all his supporters to D.C., the belly of the beast knowing that it’s a hostile jurisdiction for Republicans.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to Vivek Ramaswamy saying he would be "complicit" in lawfare against the Trump campaign by remaining in primary contests that ban the former president and a new attack ad from the Haley campaign RON DESANTIS: Just absurd. I mean, I have a responsibility to accumulate delegates. I'm not gonna unilaterally cede any, I'm gonna win as many as I can, and I've been very clear about both of those decisions in those states. It's not consistent with the Constitution. I do expect them to get reversed. (LAURA INGRAHAM:)Nikki Haley super PAC has an ad out that...

Democrats and DeSantis backers alike pounced over the Christmas period, attacking the Trump family over a Christmas picture posted to Instagram (and subsequently X.com). “Where’s Melania?” hundreds of mostly anonymized internet accounts shrieked, many of which contained “#DumpTrump” or “#DeSantis2024” markings in their biographies. The picture, which also omitted Eric and Lara Trump, as well as a number of other family members, served as poor spirited fodder for those with nothing better to do over the Christmas period besides throw shade on Donald and Melania Trump. Now, it has emerged that the former First Lady was, in fact, taking care...

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis blamed former President Donald Trump for the controversial Satanic altar erected in Iowa’s State Capitol this month, pointing out that the IRS granted the Satanic Temple tax-exempt status in 2019 during the Trump administration. So it’s interesting, I heard this and then I was like, well how did it get there? Is that even a religion? And lo and behold, the Trump administration gave them approval to be under the IRS as a religion. So that gave them the legal ability to potentially do it. So I don’t know what the legislature– what they, how...

Florida’s Governor is again recalibrating his position on climate change, per a new interview in an Iowa newspaper. The Des Moines Register reports that Ron DeSantis is admitting that human activity is one of a “variety of factors” driving the phenomenon — a fact reporter Katie Akin notes that he’s been reluctant to admit. “DeSantis’ own stance has changed: During the first GOP presidential debate, he did not raise his hand when candidates were asked if human activities are warming the planet. But in the Dec. 9 interview with the Register, DeSantis said he does believe human activities are a...

Don Tapia, a Trump-backer who served as U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica under former President Donald Trump, is making it crystal clear that his allegiance is behind the former president rather than Gov. Ron DeSantis, explaining why other major donors are turned off by the Florida governor well over five months into his presidential bid.In February, Politico described Tapia as one of many “defectors” who was leaving Trump for DeSantis. At the time, the outlet reported that he “gave more than $50,000 to DeSantis’ reelection bid and hosted a pair of fundraisers for him” and asserted that donors were growing “tired...

"I saw the video of that cop murdering George Floyd. I was just absolutely appalled by what I saw. But I immediately asked folks -- both FDLE and others -- how in the hell could you even get away with doing that tactic? And sure enough, state of Florida, you do not put knee on a neck like that." - Ron DeSantis

During an interview with NewsNation aired on Wednesday’s broadcast of “The Hill,” 2024 Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis argued that if his rival Republican candidate former President Donald Trump had followed his promise to build a wall on the border, “it would have been much more difficult for Biden to get away with” the damage he’s done on the border.DeSantis said, “I do think, when he’s saying things, like, in Iowa, the other day, that, well, he couldn’t follow his campaign promise to have Mexico build the border — pay for the border wall, because there was, no...

Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said he would not support the GOP nominating former President Donald Trump if he is convicted.“You did say, Governor, at that August debate when the question was put to the entire panel if Donald Trump is convicted, will you still — and he is the nominee, would you still support him?” co-host Willie Geist said. “And you raised your hand. You’re a lawyer. You served in the Navy. You were well-trained at the greatest schools. Do you really believe that a man who’s...