A potential presidential run from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is on hold for at least the “next few months,” claiming he is too busy with his book tour and the upcoming legislative session.
Speaking to Fox and Friends on Tuesday, DeSantis was asked about the speculation that he may run for president in 2024, and seek the Republican nomination, entering into what is expected to be a wide field, with 45th President Donald Trump and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley having already announced.
DeSantis claimed that he couldn’t possibly start a presidential run right now, as he has “two big things coming up” in the near future. The first of those things is a tour for his new book, “The Courage to be Free,” which is set to come out on February 28.
“It talks about Florida’s blueprint for American revival. We’re proud of that,” DeSantis said. After the book was announced, the Washington Examiner noted in its Secrets column that he appeared to be “following a well-worn path into presidential politics” with the book, which they described as his “political blueprint” for a potential 2024 campaign.
The second priority for DeSantis is the upcoming legislative session in Florida, which will be “kicking off” on March 8. “I think people look at Florida, they’re like, man, the governor’s gotten a lot done,” he said. “You ain’t seen nothing yet. This is going to be the most productive legislative session we have had across the board, and I think people are going to be really excited.”
The book and the legislative session are what DeSantis plans to be doing “over these next few months,” but after that, he said that he will “decide from there” as to what he will do regarding a potential presidential announcement.
On Monday, it was reported that DeSantis will not be attending the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in March, with the Floridian noting that he may not be attending because he does “not want to add any more hype to the presumed and expected 2024 Republican presidential primary cage match” between himself and Trump.
The decision comes as his poll numbers in a potential GOP presidential match-up dropped by 5 percentage points, according to the most recent Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll on Friday, giving him 23% support in the party, trailing behind Trump with 46%.
This news and commentary by Jack Hadfield originally appeared on Valiant News.
