Republican Criticizes DeSantis: 'You Promised Four Years' to Floridians

Sarah Arnold | May 24, 2023 9:00 PM

Former Arkansas GOP Gov. Mike Huckabee fired shots at Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla) after launching his 2024 presidential campaign.

Huckabee criticized DeSantis's decision to run for president after he just ran for governor last year, saying he promised Floridians four years.

"One of the challenges that he's going to have to answer is a very obvious question: If you want to be president, how come you ran for governor just last year?" Huckabee told Newsmax. "You asked for a four-year job, and then you barely had gotten into it before you were looking for another four-year job."

The Arkansas Republican aimed his response to DeSantis's announcement, telling him he better be prepared to defend his decision.

"That's a challenge… it doesn't matter who's running for office; you need to answer the question: Do you not like the one you have, and why did you ask folks to give it to you if you didn't plan to keep it?" Huckabee continued.

DeSantis waited less than a year after being elected governor before deciding to run for president, causing speculation that he was unhappy with his current position.

Huckabee also suggested that the Florida governor may not be ready to go up against some states, adding that it doesn't matter that he is popular in a few states, including his hometown, but that it only matters if he does well in critical places.

"Running for president is really not running in 50 states. It's like running for governor in about five or six states, to begin with: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada, [and] Florida," he said. "And, frankly, if you don't win those early states, I don't care how well you're doing in California, Texas, or Missouri, you're not going to be president."