In a notable campaign shift for the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis has finally taken a public stance on Donald Trump‘s election fraud claims that resulted in a federal indictment for his actions leading up to the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building.
During a campaign stop in Iowa where DeSantis is hoping to stir up momentum as part of his early states strategy, the Florida governor publicly admitted that Trump was wrong about the 2020 election.
“All those theories that were put out did not prove to be true,” told a group of reporters, according to The New York Times. It was a surprisingly to-the-point response given DeSantis’ prior reluctance to denounce January 6 lest he anger Trump’s MAGA base. The Florida governor may need their support should he somehow. win the Republican nomination. (Trump has continued to hold a commanding lead in the polls despite his mounting number of indictments.)
DeSantis did attempt to thread a needle by criticizing the increased use of mail-in voting because of the COVID pandemic, but overall, he maintained that the 2020 election was not stolen.
“It was not an election that was conducted the way I think that we want to, but that’s different than saying Maduro stole votes or something like that,” DeSantis said via the Times. “Those theories, you know, proved to be unsubstantiated.”
Denouncing Trump is yet another example of DeSantis trying to position himself as a more tough guy candidate. During a recent campaign stop in New Hampshire, he assured Republican voters that he’ll shoot Mexican cartel members “stone cold dead” and “start slitting throats on Day One” when it comes to federal bureaucrats.
Sounds like someone found a knife at the bottom of a pudding cup, and he’s not afraid to use it.
(Via The New York Times)