Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis returned to his home state to continue his campaign trail for the 2024 presidential election after receiving the endorsement of a group of law enforcement officers.
For months, the Republican has tried to meet expectations that were set on him when he jumped into the presidential race in May. Since that time, he has reorganized his campaign multiple times, laid off staff, and faced endless attacks by former United States President Donald Trump.
Ron DeSantis Returns to Florida
The Republican businessman continues to lead by double-digits in the polls against the Florida governor. Furthermore, the latter is overshadowed in his home state as well, where Trump is currently ahead of DeSantis by 35 points in a recent poll.
Against his backdrop, the Florida governor on Thursday brought his campaign to downtown Tampa, which is less than an hour from his hometown of Dunedin. He rolled out a slew of new endorsements from local police and sheriffs, as per Politico.
During his hour-long stop, the Florida governor touched on many of the same themes that he has touted during his years spent as the head of the state. He also characterized San Francisco as a drug-ridden hellhole, attacked the media and its "phone narratives," denounced "Soros-funded" prosecutors, and criticized President Joe Biden over the issue of the southern border.
However, those familiar lines now faced an uneasy audience and the Florida governor also took some skeptical questions from voters and reporters, including whether or not he has more support in Florida compared to his rival, Trump, who is currently spending time at his winter home at Mar-a-Lago in south Florida.
In response to the question, DeSantis said, "He won by three, I won by 20." It was a reference to how much Trump won Florida in the 2020 election and his own 2022 re-election margin of victory. The recent event held in Tampa also veered from the governor's usual campaign schedule, which focused especially heavily on Iowa.
Criticizing Donald Trump
The recent endorsements that DeSantis received came from 60 Florida bipartisan law enforcement officers, which is a larger number than what he received during his 2022 gubernatorial race, according to Fox News.
They also come as the Florida Republican has been recognized in early nominating states for his actions as governor to back the blue and sign strong anti-crime laws, resulting in a 50-year low crime rate in the state, said a press release by DeSantis' campaign.
The governor also delivered some of the sharpest criticisms of Trump to date, blaming the former president for his own defeat in 2020 and suggesting that the Republican businessman lacks the energy to once again lead the United States.
DeSantis quipped that there is no need for any more presidents who have lost the "zip on their fastball." He added that the Republican Party's nomination should not be a coronation, particularly for someone who he says was not even able to stop Biden.
The governor claimed that people were "voting against Trump" in a reference to the 2020 election. His remarks undercut the ongoing lies about a stolen election from the Republican businessman and his supporters, said CNN.
