Ron DeSantis dismissed speculation that he would be Donald Trump’s running mate, saying his focus is on a potential 2028 presidential run.
During a call with delegates, DeSantis said he is “not doing” vice president and criticized those “auditioning” for the role.
“I know some people are really actively seeking it. It seems to me, just from watching kind of the body language and stuff, that you have a handful of folks who seem to be auditioning for it,” DeSantis said. “I think my criteria [for running mate] was different than what probably Donald Trump’s criteria will be.”
He said his criteria for a running mate centered on someone who could immediately take over as president, noting his own relative youth.
“My criteria was, basically, I need someone who can do the job if it came to that, and I would have been the third-youngest president elected so chances are, actuarily I would probably be in pretty good shape, but you never know what else can happen, it’s happened before,” he said.
“So you need someone who can just go in, day one, no problem, they can do the job.”
While leaving his options open in 2028, DeSantis suggested Trump may use “different criteria” like “identity politics.”
He also reflected on attacks from Trump and allies during his presidential campaign, speculating it stemmed from former advisers with “an ax to grind” and conservative media portraying Trump’s nomination as “inevitable,” depressing Iowa turnout.
“I’m not sure that those are necessarily going to be the criteria that Donald Trump uses. I think he’s going to probably use different criteria. I’ve heard that they are looking more at identity politics. I think that’s a mistake. I think you should just focus on who you think the best person for the job would be,” he said.
“We’re still in this election cycle, so it’s presumptuous to say this or that.” DeSantis added. “I think a lot happens in politics.”
“I think [Trump’s] got people in his inner circle who were a part of our orbit years ago that we fired, and I think some of that is they have an ax to grind.”
“The dynamic of the race is not that they were attacking me and Republican voters all of a sudden didn’t like me,” DeSantis said. “That wasn’t it at all. The dynamics of the race were, he kept getting indicted and he drew more support out of sympathy for that, and then he had the conservative media that basically rallied to him and made it where a lot of voters thought his nomination was inevitable.”
“In Iowa, the reason why turnout was so low,” was because “a lot of conservative voters … had just tuned out the process because they thought he was inevitable.”
Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt sharply criticized DeSantis, saying he failed in his presidential bid and should concentrate efforts on opposing Biden rather than criticizing from a distance.
“Ron DeSantis failed miserably in his presidential campaign and does not have a voice in selecting the next Vice President of the United States,” Leavitt said.
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