After a week when nothing seemed to go his way, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is back in his comfort zone. In front of a receptive conservative audience in a Washington suburb, he recounted his long list of policy accomplishments.
“We’ve really become the heart of these American conservative movements,” DeSantis said Friday morning, speaking at the Heritage Foundation, an influential conservative think tank celebrating its 50th anniversary. is a state where the ideas and values we share actually become a political reality.”
But outside a packed ballroom in Maryland, foundation president Kevin Roberts said Republicans “crave a bold, visionary leader” like the governor of Florida. Suggested… Bid.Notable Donor expressed concernand Florida Republicans in Congress have so far shown little inclination to support him.
What highlights DeSantis’ biggest challenge is his continued avoidance of mentioning former President Donald J. Trump. Even as Mr. DeSantis was speaking, Mr. Trump shared several critical posts about him on the former president’s media outlet, his website, Truth.
Trump’s posts focused on days of negative headlines challenging DeSantis’ political acumen and his handling of the aftermath of a major storm in South Florida. .Last week’s storms flooded the Fort Lauderdale area, causing serious consequences gas shortage Located in the most populated area of the state.
Both Florida Republican senators have complained of fuel shortages, alluding to Mr. DeSantis.
Senator Marco Rubio said, “They have to fix this. This is crazy.” video On Twitter without nominating a governor.Senator Rick Scott I have written “Families in Florida shouldn’t be uncertain about their next gas tank.”
The governor’s deputy press secretary, Jeremy Redfern, defended the way the state handled the gas shortage.
“The state’s emergency response equipment has been operational since the floods began, as directed by Governor DeSantis, and continues to operate in earnest while addressing the needs of the region as they were communicated to us,” he said. said in an email.
At the Heritage event attended by policy experts, conservative activists and think-tank donors, the crowd greeted Mr. DeSantis with a standing ovation. Organizers estimated that about 1,000 people turned up to hear him speak.
Mr DeSantis said: his pitch that he would be the most elected Republican 2024: He won the gubernatorial office in a fierce 2018 election, governing aggressively as a conservative, winning a landslide re-election that included converting liberal Miami-Dade County to the Republican line.
“We reject the culture of losing that has pervaded the Republican Party in recent years,” said his decision to reopen Florida’s economy early in the coronavirus pandemic. Hurricane Ian and signed his new law ban abortion in states After 6 weeks of pregnancy.
Despite his electoral success, DeSantis has occasionally faced criticism for lacking a personal touch in his campaign trajectory. On Friday, he shook hands with attendees for a few minutes after his speech.
Attending from Midland, Texas, Ross Schumann said he worked in the oil and gas industry and was running for Congress in 2020, and briefly shook hands with the governor as security details ushered him to the exit. He said Mr. DeSantis hit all the correct notes in his speech. But Schuman didn’t think it was the right time for DeSantis to run for president.
“He’s been very focused on winning policy, but this primary is Trump’s loss,” he said.
Mr. DeSantis is learning how closely the Republican Party is tied to the former president.
On Tuesday he went to Washington seek trial Republican Congressman. But so far, the effort has met with little success. Instead, several delegates, including some in Florida, are backing Trump. One member of the House of Representatives, Anna Paulina Luna, murmured A photo of the celebratory dinner at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Palm Beach mansion.
Other vulnerabilities emerged as well.A potential rival for the White House is slamming Mr. DeSantis is over his battle with Disney, one of Florida’s economic engines.
All of which affect the race for dollars. Thomas Peterfy, a prominent conservative donor, told the Financial Times Last week, it said it had “withheld” donations to DeSantis because of the governor’s far-right stance on social issues.
Even the smallest things seem to go wrong. Early Thursday morning, the state accidentally sent a loud emergency alert message to mobile phones across Florida.Awaken the astonished inhabitants and let Mr. DeSantis promise “Rapid accountability” on Twitter. (The state soon announced that it had terminated its contract with the responsible software company.)
Shortly after the governor wrapped up his speech at the Heritage event, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Zhang said in an email that DeSantis spoke about the lives of those he represents. “
Still, that won’t matter when voting begins in early primary states next year, as DeSantis’ allies brush off recent skepticism about his prospects and strangle Beltway’s hand.
“If you ask voters in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, or Nevada if they’ve had a bad week, they won’t think so,” he said in support of the governor’s anticipated presidential bid.
Cuccinelli, who worked in the Trump administration, said conservative voters were reacting to DeSantis’ record as governor and his biography as a veteran, husband and father.
“People get very excited when we tell that story,” he said. “They see fighters. They see winners.”
Though polls show the governor lags far behind Trump, he is often pegged as voters’ second choice. his foreign policy credentials About the National Trade Missions to Japan, South Korea, Israel and the UK starting Monday.
And he maintains the endorsement of Las Vegas real estate and aerospace mogul, political donor Robert Bigelow. Bigelow donated his $20 million to Never Back Down, according to people familiar with Super PAC’s activities.
‘I’ll give him more money and go without food,’ says Bigelow told Time magazine.
The legacy event focused on conservative policies that the group hopes the next Republican administration will adopt, but the think tank said. I am working on building a database It may help the staff of the next Republican-led White House and federal agency — it also showed how conspiracy theories continue to run through some of the Republican Party’s foundations.
Before Mr. DeSantis arrived, an audience member asked a question at a panel discussion on the Department of Justice, misrepresenting the speaker that the September 11 attacks were an inside job.
Conservative author Molly Hemingway, moderating the panel, interrupted to ask the next question.
