Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is a potential Republican presidential nominee for 2024, and in Tuesday’s remarks during his second inauguration, he called the “fashionable ideology” and Washington’s “squirming federal system.” ‘ attacked what they called.
DeSantis, 44, said the state’s law and order agenda and its refusal to enforce strict restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic motivated him to move to Florida from other states in recent years.12 In May, the U.S. Census Bureau declared Florida, with 22.2 million residents, to be the nation’s fastest growing state in 2021-2022.
“Freedom lives here,” DeSantis told a cheering crowd in Tallahassee in a 16-minute speech.
“We will not bow to the ‘woke’ mob,” he said. “Florida is the place where those who ‘wake up’ die.”
Without naming President Biden and Congressional Democrats, DeSantis accused them of managing the nation over the past two years. “The federal government has gone to overspending on inflation that is making our country weaker and our citizens poorer. It has enacted pandemic limits and mandates.” .
At the next session of the Florida legislature, DeSantis will have the opportunity to show off his conservative credentials ahead of a possible White House bid.
The governor is often critical of what he calls “awakened capital,” part of the environmental, social and corporate governance movement, and has in the past passed laws allowing people to carry concealed guns without a permit. Although he avoided the topic during his recent campaign after signing a 15-week abortion ban in April, some supporters criticized access to abortion in Florida. pressure to further limit He did not discuss such details in his Tuesday remarks.
In his speech, he promised to take more conservative steps on education and policing for a second term, as well as tax cuts from a record state budget surplus. He said these measures will bring more people and businesses to Florida, dubbed the “promised land of sanity.”
He didn’t mention former President Donald Trump on Tuesday, who has already announced his candidacy for 2024.
A recent Wall Street Journal poll of Republican primary voters found DeSantis was 52% to 38% more popular than Trump, a hypothetical match between the two alone. rice field.
Support for DeSantis and Trump could certainly look different in key areas for multiple candidates than in a head-to-head confrontation. The former president was able to win his 2016 party’s nomination in part because many candidates diverted their support among non-Trump options.
DeSantis’ easy victory in November’s midterm elections was a standout for Republicans in a disappointing election year. It has spurred a surge in support for his presidential prospects from Republican Trump-hating party leaders, donors and activists.
If DeSantis decides to run for president, he is not expected to announce his candidacy until after state legislatures close in early May, people familiar with the early discussions said.
Write to Cameron McWhirter at Cameron.McWhirter@wsj.com and to John McCormick at mccormick.john@wsj.com.
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