Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has indicated he’s focused on winning reelection later this year, not running for president in 2024.
But a speech he delivered at the annual CPAC convention in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday certainly had a presidential campaign feel to some who heard it, the Daily Wire noted.
The outlet reported from the event:
Judging from his rock-star arrival at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) in Orlando on Thursday — and the repeated standing ovations he got throughout his stemwinder of a speech — the answer sure looks like a big yes.
Ron DeSantis, the popular Republican governor of Florida, threw the conservative crowd pounds of red meat, hitting government overreach on COVID-19, soaring crime, “Bidenflation,” big tech censorship, transgender athletes and election integrity.
But most of all, he hit the left wing of the Democratic Party, which he said wants to stifle the voices of conservatives.
“Woke is the new religion of the left,” DeSantis said, mirroring this year’s CPAC slogan, “Awoke, Not Woke,” and going on to describe the political philosophy to “a form of Marxism.”
“Freedom has prevailed in the Sunshine State,” he said to rousing cheers.
“While many stood through his 20-minute speech, others jumped to their feet when he delivered lines like, ‘criminals will see the inside of a jail cell,’ labeled the Biden White House ‘the Brandon administration’ and declared ‘Florida has defeated Fauciism,’ a reference to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has led the effort to lock down America and mandate masks in schools,” the Daily Wire reported.
The outlet said that the popular GOP governor also got a standing ovation when he said his state wouldn’t become a “Faucian Dystopia.”
“We stand up against the weak-on-crime policies that are ravaging cities across the country,” DeSantis said.
For his home state, he said “this is not going to be like Portland. … In Florida, you are not getting a slap on the wrist, you are getting the inside of a jail cell.”
He also addressed the highly controversial critical race theory curriculum: “Because we will not spend taxpayer money to teach our kids to hate America or to hate each other, we have banned CRT in K through 12 education.”
DeSantis also blasted President Joe Biden: “He’s had the worst first year of any president since the 1800s.”
As for whether or not he’ll jump in the 2024 presidential race, many political analysts believe that will depend largely on whether another famous Florida resident — former President Donald Trump — decides to do so.
And so far, he has yet to say, though he has also strongly indicated that he will.