One Florida resident has threatened to take drastic action if Gov. Ron DeSantis abandons the state to run for president in 2024.
That resident, legendary GOP operative Roger Stone, told Miami/Ford Lauderdale station WFOR last week that he wants DeSantis to stay put, period, assuming of course that he wins reelection next year.
Look, I have no illusions about my ability to become elected governor of Florida. That’s not the point here. I believe that Gov. DeSantis, assuming he’s going to run for reelection, should pledge to the people of Florida that he will fill out all four years of a second term,” he said.
“What I don’t want to see is for him to be re-elected and then immediately abandon Florida to run off and run for president, particularly if he’s running against Donald Trump.”
This prompted the WFOR interviewer to ask, “Are you saying that even if Donald Trump were to ultimately decide not to run, that Ron DeSantis should be precluded from running for president — that he should remain here for four years, regardless of whether Donald Trump is the nominee or not?”
What the interviewer appeared to be trying to determine was whether Stone’s ultimatum was based more-so on him desperately wanting DeSantis to stay or on his loyalty to former President Donald Trump.
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However, what Stone said next suggested that he has some sort of beef with the governor.
“What evidence do you have that suggests that there may be an opening for you among those who are dissatisfied with him, and how many do you believe are dissatisfied with him on the right?” the interviewer asked.
“Well, the people who love Ron DeSantis the most of course [are] the people who have never met him,” the GOP operative responded condescendingly.
“It would be nice if he said thank you to some of his donors or if he’d actually meet with the voters. He seems to be allergic to people. But you know, perhaps that’s just a different campaign style.”
Ouch …
It’s not clear why he feels such clear-cut animosity toward DeSantis. What’s known is that he’s been trash-talking the governor all week on the social media platform Gab.
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