In an interview on Thursday, Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for president, said that he would support former President Donald Trump if he became the 2024 nominee.
DeSantis made the remarks in an interview on Thursday with MSNBC.
“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 convicted of say, attempting to overturn the 2020 election, or taking nuclear secrets back to his beach club, do you actually still, as we sit here today, believe that person should be president?” host Willie Geist asked.
“I signed a pledge,” DeSantis said in the interview. “That pledge is what it is. "
“Now, do I think somebody under those circumstances could get elected president? The answer’s no. That will not happen. I think that Republican voters will understand that as we get closer to voting. But it would be fatal in a general election and I don’t think the party should nominate in that situation,” DeSantis explained.
“However, I signed the pledge, I’m a Republican, I don’t think it’s going to come to that. And, I think we’ll get the job done like we need to. But the reality is, I signed it, and that’s what I did,” he added.
.@WillieGeist: If Donald Trump's convicted, "do you actually still believe [he] should be president?"@GovRonDeSantis: "No, that will not happen...it would be fatal in a general election. I don't think the party should should nominate in that situation." pic.twitter.com/trWsm4l7oo
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) November 2, 2023
“You never know what’s going to happen. It’s a crazy process,” DeSantis concluded. “I think my point-of-view on it was, you know, I’m participating in this process, I’ve got the plan to win…at the same time, it’s like, you can’t just take your ball and go home. You can’t on the one side of your mouth say your country’s in decline, Biden’s failing, and on the other hand, say you know, I’m just going to pout if things don’t go my way. So, that was kind of my rationale for doing it.”
Next week, several GOP candidates will appear in the third Republican presidential debate. So far, this includes DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.