(RepublicanInformer.com)- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ name has come up as one of the leading candidates for the Republican nomination for president in 2024.
This week, though, the former chief of staff for the White House said DeSantis would not run in 2024 if former President Donald Trump decides to run.
Mark Meadows said late last week that DeSantis wouldn’t throw his hat into the ring if Trump were to indeed decide to run himself in 2024. That opinion comes as DeSantis found his name atop a presidential straw poll conducted by the Western Conservative Summit recently — even ahead of Trump.
Still, Meadows told the Washington Examiner that DeSantis would likely focus on winning re-election as the governor of Florida rather than turning his attention already to a potential presidential run in 2024.
As Meadows said:
“Governor DeSantis has made it very, very clear that he is running for re-election as governor of Florida, but he doesn’t shy away from being very bold in terms of the initiatives that he’s been putting forth. His re-election for governor is a platform to show that the policies, and the boldness, and, quite frankly, the courage.”
DeSantis appeals very well to conservative voters. He has risen to prominence as governor of Florida over the last year, standing out as one conservative who has fought back against liberal constrictive policies during the pandemic.
He’s also a close ally of Trump who built a close relationship with the former president while he was in the White House. Maybe that’s part of the reason why DeSantis won’t commit to running for president until he finds out what Trump’s intentions are.
As Meadows explained:
“Governor DeSantis won’t even — he’s asked over and over and over again every time I’m in his presence — he’s been asked, ‘Are you running in 2024?’ His answer has been consistent: He is running for re-election for governor of the state that not only he loves, but one that is, quite frankly, well run because of his leadership.”
For now, Trump hasn’t tipped his hat on his own future plans. He has said publicly that he’s focused on getting Republicans to win back control of the House and Senate in the 2022 midterms before turning his attention to the 2024 presidential election.
In the meantime, he’s even said that if he were to run, he would consider DeSantis as a possible running mate. It’s unlikely that he would turn to his former vice president, Mike Pence, who he had a falling out with — to say the least — at the end of his last term.
Many people have surmised that DeSantis probably won’t run for president if Trump decides to run. The question, though, is whether he would consider joining Trump as his vice presidential candidate, or whether he’d prefer to focus only on Florida’s politics.
Much won’t be known before the 2022 elections, which feature DeSantis’ re-election as well as the ever-important midterms. After that, though, we should all start to learn some more.
