Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis said there were only two candidates who could get the Republican nomination in 2024, and only one of them could serve two terms.
DeSantis argued that he would be a better president than Trump on spending, personnel, and because he could serve a second term.
DeSantis said he has huge support in the early states, adding: "You've got to build this." He was speaking on the podcast of Wisconsin Right Now (WRN) where he touted his economic accomplishments in Florida and his approach to dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
DeSantis said that Trump should acknowledge he did not get COVID right because he empowered Dr. Fauci. He said he picked a surgeon general in Florida who was the "anti-Fauci," and fought against mask and vaccine mandates and to keep kids in schools.
The Florida governor argued that he would be much better than Trump at appointing personnel.
He said that Trump appointed a "woke general" (Mark Milley). DeSantis, a veteran, promised to refocus the military, which he said has been politicized and subjected to woke ideology.
DeSantis said in the podcast that he believes the U.S. government should use its leverage to bring sustained peace to Ukraine and Russia, criticizing what he called Biden's "blank check" that is depleting the Unites States' weapons reserves from other countries that could use them, like Taiwan.
DeSantis also pledged to take the fight to the drug cartels at the U.S./Mexico border with lethal force, if necessary, and he also said he would finish Trump's border wall on "day one," and declare a national emergency at the border on day one.
"I would do the wall better," he said on the WRN podcast. "Cartels cut through it. They're literally bringing product into our country right through the wall."
DeSantis also said he differs from Trump on spending. Trump signed "every bloated spending bill that the swamp put on his desk," he said.
"I will be a focused, disciplined, and energetic president."
Polls show DeSantis is in a dead heat with Trump in Wisconsin but trails the former president by 30 points nationally in RealClear Politics polls.
"This is a state-by-state process," DeSantis said. "There's not a national primary."
As for media articles arguing his campaign has gotten off to a sluggish start, DeSantis said, "They go after the person that they fear, and that's what they're doing."
DeSantis said the media "are trying to create a narrative" that his campaign is stumbling "because they don't want me to be the nominee." He said that's because "they know I'd beat Biden handily."
The Florida governor said he would support the eventual Republican nominee but ruled out being Trump's running mate. "I don't think so. I don't think I'm a number two guy. I think I'm a leader, governor of Florida, I've accomplished a lot. I think I could do more staying there than being VP, which doesn't really have any authority."
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