DeSantis rattles off laundry list of reasons he’s better than Trump
Florida governor compared his ‘blue-collar’ upbringing to Trump’s ‘great wealth’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Ron DeSantis is putting some distance between himself and Donald Trump after spending time defending the ex-president and his political rival while campaigning for 2024 president.
In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, the Florida governor explained all the ways he differs from Mr Trump, from their upbringings to his presence at the GOP debates.
“I mean, he was born into great wealth, I’m a blue-collar kid that had to work minimum wage jobs to get where I was,” Mr DeSantis said and highlighted that he volunteered to serve in Iraq while Mr Trump conducted business as a young man.
Mr DeSantis also boasted that he believes he could serve two terms as a president while Mr Trump would be “a lame duck on day one” and that he performed better in the Florida gubernatorial race than Mr Trump did in the 2020 election.
The sudden deviation from Mr DeSantis defending Mr Trump to the media comes after the Florida governor has spent parts of his campaign coming to the ex-president’s defence on policies and his criminal indictments.
Since launching his candidacy for president, Mr DeSantis has spent a considerable amount of time absorbing Mr Trump’s constant attacks to avoid creating an enemy out of the most powerful figure in the Republican Party.
After all, Mr Trump’s endorsement was a major reason that Mr DeSantis performed so well in Florida.
But Wednesday’s interview depicted Mr DeSantis’ willingness to separate himself from Mr Trump. It appears to be a new campaign strategy, different from the previously reported one that specifically asked Mr DeSantis to defend Mr Trump.
But it also may be an effort to try and boost Mr DeSantis’ image after primary polling numbers showed the Florida governor performing at his worst.
In the interview, Mr DeSantis specifically lashed out at Mr Trump’s refusal to participate in the GOP debates.
“He owes it to the people to be there,” Mr DeSantis said. “He owes it to the people to make the case and to defend his record. You can’t be not showing up to these things.”
Mr Trump refused to participate in the first debate in August, instead opting for an exclusive interview with Tucker Carlson to air on the social media platform X. He has decided to invoke a similar strategy for the upcoming second debate, choosing to spend time with voters in Michigan instead.
Meanwhile, Mr DeSantis and the other candidates running for president are preparing to hash it out again on the debate stage.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments