Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Friday that he will make a decision on whether to launch a 2024 presidential bid “relatively soon”, The Hill reported.
“I felt very confident going into November ’22 we were gonna do very well, but you really had to put up or shut up on that,” DeSantis said at a news conference marking the end of Florida’s legislative session, referring to his reelection last year.
“I also understood that we had this opportunity here to be able to really, really do a lot of great stuff, and I’ve always said that we’re gonna see this through,” he continued. “What happens in the future? We’ll get on that relatively soon. You either gotta put or shut up on that as well.”
DeSantis has been actively preparing for a campaign, and sources familiar with his plans said recently he would officially announce his campaign in mid-May. DeSantis has dismissed those reports as “inaccurate.”
“If there’s any announcements, those will come at the appropriate time. But if anyone’s telling you that somehow they know this or they know that, that’s just inaccurate because there’s not been any decisions made,” DeSantis said.
The Florida Governor has long been viewed as former President Donald Trump’s strongest Republican challenger in 2024.
As of February, DeSantis was up on Trump by as many as 24 points in a hypothetical Republican primary matchup, but Trump has since gained traction. A recently released poll, however, found that 55 percent of respondents who identified as Republicans said they would back Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
Trump, who has confirmed his intentions to seek the 2024 Republican nomination, has warned DeSantis against running for president in 2024, saying, “I think he would be making a mistake. I think the base would not like it. I don’t think it would be good for the party.”
Several other Republicans have already launched campaigns to challenge Trump — including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson — but they have largely failed to gain much traction in the polls.
Republicans who are also weighing potential campaigns include former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was also mentioned as a possible contender, but he officially announced recently that he has decided not to run.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)