Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is reacting to attacks lobbed at him by former President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, DeSantis was asked what he thought of Trump’s jabs at him.
The governor smiled and then responded, “Well, you know, one of the things I’ve learned in this job is when you’re leading, when you’re getting things done you take incoming fire. That’s just the nature of it.”
“I roll out of bed in the morning. I’ve got corporate media outlets that have a spasm. Just the fact that I’m getting up in the morning. And it’s constantly attacking and this is just what’s happened. I don’t think any governor got attacked more, particularly by corporate media, than me over my four-year term,” he continued.
DeSantis went on:
And yet I think what you learn is all that’s just noise. And really what matters is, are you leading? Are you getting in front of issues? Are you delivering results for people and are you standing up for folks? And if you do that, then none of that stuff matters. And that’s what we’ve done. We focused on results and leadership.”
Watch the video below:
DeSantis says to look at the "scoreboard" when asked about Trump's attacks on him in the wake of the midterm elections. pic.twitter.com/LDZopUZfIR
— National Review (@NRO) November 15, 2022
Finally, he added, “You know, at the end of the day, I would just tell people to go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night. And the fact of the matter is, it was the greatest Republican victory in the history of the state of Florida.”
DeSantis’ comments come after Trump has taken several jabs at him in an apparent attempt to clear the 2024 primary field.
The former president labeled him “Ron DeSanctimonious” and took credit for his 2018 win in Florida’s gubernatorial election.
The latter attack, if it can be called that, came after DeSantis cruised to victory in his reelection bid with a nearly 20-point margin. In other parts of the country, Republicans experienced a disappointing night as candidates picked by Trump in high-profile races lost.
Rather than following the mistake of other Trump opponents, DeSantis did not call him a name or mimic his behavior.
Instead, he is letting his record tell the story. It’s a way of saying, “I’m not saying Trump is a loser for the party. But I won by double-digits while his candidates lost, and he lost his reelection bid.”
Those four words — ”check out the scoreboard” — can be a perfect message. While DeSantis is in office and can rack up wins, Trump can only post messages on his Truth Social platform and point to polls.
And Trump’s track record now includes significant Republican losses in 2018, 2020, and 2022, and he has no real opportunity to try to show voters he can win again.
Republicans at times tried to play Trump’s game in 2016, and it did not work out well for them. Now he may be facing a race where voters just have to look at their different records to see which one would be the better candidate.
And if DeSantis is smart he’ll stay away from the name-calling and let Trump just scream on Truth Social while he does the work of governing in a way conservatives like.
