While Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) remains focused on successfully serving as a governor recently reelected by 20 points, he hasn't been able to completely escape chatter about the 2024 presidential election, and whether or not he will run against former and potentially future President Donald Trump who declared back in November.
Early on Thursday morning, The Hill reported that DeSantis' plans could come around late May or early June, after the Florida legislative session. Again, he still has a job to do when it comes to his constituents. That doesn't mean there isn't some behind the scenes work going on, though.
As the report mentioned:
Several Republicans familiar with the deliberations say that DeSantis is almost certain to seek the GOP’s presidential nomination. His advisers have begun reaching out to and interviewing potential hires for a campaign and are gaming out the best time to announce his intentions.
A formal campaign launch is still months away, they say, and won’t likely come until after the state legislature wraps up its regular session in May. Two sources familiar with the plans said that the Florida governor could announce his presidential bid as early as late May or early June.
“I think his mind is pretty much made up at this point,” one Republican operative said. “My read on it is: Let’s get through session, get some stuff done and see where things stand. But unless something changes drastically between now and then, I’d say he’s a go.”
Then again, that May or June timing is at the earliest, according to another source mentioned in the report, who said that it may not come until August or September, after a "summer campaign lull."
Regardless of what he does in 2024, DeSantis has been in the news quite a bit, from his handling of woke Disney World and its self-governing status, to his office making sure that students are not subject to an AP African-American Studies (APAAS) course that violates state law.
Nevertheless, DeSantis did have to respond from the latest attack from Trump, especially with what a doozy the attack was.
As Julio covered on Wednesday, Trump effectively used a leftist narrative to accuse DeSantis of "grooming" high school students. "I would also just say this. I spend my time delivering results for the people of Florida and fighting against Joe Biden. That's how I spend my time. I don't spend my time trying to smear other Republicans," the governor said in response during a press conference.
BREAKING: DeSantis responds to Trump ReTruth accusing him of being a "groomer"
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) February 8, 2023
"I'd just say this. I spend my time delivering results for the people of Florida and fighting against Joe Biden [...] I don't spend my time trying to smear other Republicans." pic.twitter.com/Ddj9Mb1MYj
Speaking of Biden, it is expected that the president will declare his own intentions for 2024 now that he's given his State of the Union address. While he appears to relish in the opportunity for a 2020 rematch against Trump, the Biden campaign and Democrats are reportedly quite nervous about going up against DeSantis. As Guy highlighted late last month, the DNC is already looking to go after DeSantis.
And why wouldn't they? Not only do polls show DeSantis beating Biden, but on Wednesday's edition of RealClearPolitics, a the Political Leaders Poll Ratings were highlighted, showing "DeSantis Most Favorable, McConnell Least." DeSantis has a favorable rating of 42.8 percent to Biden's 42 percent, though his unfavorable ratings are much better in that he is only at a 36.6 unfavorable rating, giving him a spread of +6.2. Biden, on the other hand, has an unfavorable rating of 52.9 percent, giving him a spread of -10.9.