The News
Ron DeSantis hasn’t yet officially entered the 2024 presidential race.
But in the last 24 hours alone, both sitting lawmakers and potential opponents have lobbed attacks at the Florida governor as if he were already a candidate in the GOP primary — providing a preview of the swipes he can expect if he does enter the race.
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Tuesday, 8:45 a.m.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a potential 2024 hopeful, went after DeSantis during a Semafor event, saying he doesn’t consider him to be a conservative based on his ongoing feud with Disney.
Christie questioned his political acumen and maturity, saying DeSantis is “not the guy I want sitting across from President Xi and negotiating our next agreement with China, or sitting across from Putin and trying to resolve what’s happening in Ukraine.”
Former President Donald Trump, who has attacked DeSantis for months, also took the opportunity to say on Tuesday that he “is being absolutely destroyed by Disney.”
Tuesday, 6:07 p.m.
Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) endorsed Trump in his reelection bid — shortly after meeting with DeSantis.
Gooden said in a statement that he had a “positive meeting with Governor DeSantis,” but “there is no doubt in my mind that President Trump is the only leader who can save America from the leftist onslaught we are facing.”
Gooden announced the endorsement during an event DeSantis was hosting in Washington to mingle with Republican lawmakers, The New York Times reported.
Wednesday, 6:12 a.m.
Florida Rep. Greg Steube — who had endorsed Trump just before DeSantis’s visit to Washington — told Politico that DeSantis never reached out or responded to him during his five years in Congress.
That only changed last week, Steube said, when he heard from a DeSantis political aide “for the first time ever.”
Wednesday, 7:53 a.m.
Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), similarly questioned DeSantis’s outreach, telling CNN that he tried to get in touch with the governor several times last year, but DeSantis’s team has “blown me off.” He said they “left me off the list,” even after he helped with a DeSantis fundraiser last year.
Burchett was one of the lawmakers who met with DeSantis on Tuesday, and posted a selfie with him, but he hasn’t made an endorsement in the GOP primary.