Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is facing questions about whether he will commit to backing former President Donald Trump if he wins the Republican nomination.
During an event on Thursday, a reporter asked, “Regardless of his attacks, will you 100% pledge to support Trump as the GOP nominee?”
“What I would say is this, when you are saying that Cuomo did better on Covid than Florida did. You are revealing yourself to just be full of it,” DeSantis responded.
His comment refers to Trump’s assertion earlier this month former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) “did better” in handling COVID-19 than DeSantis.
The Florida governor went on, “You know why I know that? Because I remember in 2020 and 2021 when [Trump] was praising Florida for being open, saying we did it much better than New York and Michigan… He used to say that all the time, now all of a sudden, his tune is changing.”
Watch the video below:
When asked if he will support Trump if he is the nominee, Desantis refuses to answer and says Trump is “full of it” and “he’s saying things that are false.” pic.twitter.com/VUhUIZ0DZa
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) June 22, 2023
He called Trump’s attacks “frivolous criticisms.”
However, he argued, “It shows that if you have to make that argument, then you probably don’t have good arguments.”
“Because the reality is, everything he said about us for years about how strong we were, how good we were, how we delivered for the state, those happen to be true. And now he’s trying to backtrack because he views he needs to do that, and he’s saying things that are false,” DeSantis added.
Finally, the governor predicted he would win the nomination and defeat President Joe Biden in the general election.
However, he added, “It’s an important process. And you know, you respect the process and people’s decisions, how it goes. But I’m very confident that those decisions are going to be positive for us.”
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is requiring that candidates sign a pledge to support the eventual nominee to qualify for the primary debates.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told CNN in February, “Anyone getting on the Republican national committee debate stage should be able to say, ‘I will support the will of the voters and the eventual nominee of our party.'”
At least one candidate, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), has already signaled he will sign the pledge — but may not stick to it.
Speaking to The Bulwark, Christie said he “probably wouldn’t vote for president” if Trump is the nominee in 2024.