Republicans who are seeking the 2024 party nomination gained a player this week as Nikki Haley threw her combative heels into the race, and other Republicans are expected to join soon, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is rumored to be ready to run, but has not made that move as of this week.
At a recent press conference on tort reform, the highly popular GOP governor was asked by a reporter specifically, whether he will be the next to declare, as Jon Doughtery reported for Conservative Brief, adding links to the comments:
“BREAKING: DeSantis asked if he’s running for president
“Nikki Haley announced her presidential run today, do you plan on following suit?”
“Hahaha! Wouldn’t you like to know!”Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) posted on Twitter on February 14, 2023.
Watch:
BREAKING: DeSantis asked if he's running for president
"Nikki Haley announced her presidential run today, do you plan on following suit?"
"Hahaha! Wouldn't you like to know!" pic.twitter.com/skYs9wi3DL
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) February 14, 2023
Not everyone who likes DeSantis wants him to run right now. Some people are saying he would make a great President, but believe he should stay in Florida where he is doing a great job, and run sometime in the future when the mud fights will not take a damaging toll as they are expected to take in the next few years – with the brutal fights that are certainly going to unfold over many hard issues.
Doughtery’s talked about comments made by firebrand Sarah Palin, on this exact topic, in his report and went on:
Meanwhile, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who was the late John McCain’s presidential running mate in 2008, is encouraging DeSantis to stand down in 2024 and throw his support behind Donald Trump, the first to declare officially for the party’s nomination.
During an interview on Newsmax with host Eric Bolling, Palin spoke about rumors that DeSantis could make a run for the White House in 2024, which would pit him against Trump in the Republican primary. Trump announced in November that he was running for president.
“Do you think DeSantis jumps in?” Bolling asked Palin.
“DeSantis doesn’t need to,” Palin replied. “I envision him as our president someday, but not right now. Everybody I speak with in Florida, they all love him. And he does set the tone for, I’d say every other governor in the nation. I think he’s our best governor and he should stay governor for a bit longer. He’s young. You know he has decades ahead of him where he can be our president.”
“Trump needs to choose somebody who, like him, has nothing to lose. What more can they do to that person personally or verbal attacks or anything else on the family? That person has been through the wringer, so they know what they’re getting into. And that person then can just focus on doing what’s right for the people,” Palin said.
“Are you describing yourself?” Bolling asked.
“Not necessarily,” Palin said before referencing her run with McCain. “However, I’ll tell you, the opportunity that I had to run with someone who wasn’t as commonsense [of a] constitutional conservative as I, and I think the majority of Republicans were.”
WATCH:
Palin makes some great points.
According to her bio, Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee alongside U.S. Senator John McCain.
Palin was definitely the most exciting thing about the McCain ticket.
The media, of course, treated her as they treat all Conservatives- in a vicious way, and she survived it all to maintain her dignity and to communicate an accurate view of the concerns most Americans have about an out-of-control and centralized government.
The left-leaning Guardian reported on Palin’s comments:
Ron DeSantis of Florida should stay as governor “a bit longer” and not run for president in 2024, said Sarah Palin – the former Alaska governor who was John McCain’s running mate in 2008 but resigned rather than complete her term after Republican defeat.
DeSantis, 44, has not declared a run but is widely expected to do so as the only strong challenger to Donald Trump in polling regarding the forming field.
Palin, a Trump supporter, told Newsmax: “DeSantis doesn’t need to [run]. I envision him as our president someday but not right now.
“He should stay governor for a bit longer. He’s young, you know. He has decades ahead of him where he can be our president.”
In office, DeSantis has aped Trump with hardline and often theatrically cruel policies, focusing on culture war issues including education and the Covid pandemic. But he stormed to re-election last year and is the party establishment favourite. He is widely reported to be readying a run.
Palin, 59, said she was “all about healthy, competitive primaries. That makes everybody debate more articulately and work harder and let the people know what records are and visions for this country are.
“… But when you talk about the specific people, the individual people who are looking at putting their hat in the ring … they got a lot of guts thinking they’re gonna go up against Trump.”
Asked if she would be willing to be Trump’s pick for vice-president, Palin said: “What President Trump and I have talked about is kind of the same thing that we’re talking about.”
Palin was plucked from relative obscurity to be McCain’s running mate against Barack Obama in 2008, a risky choice McCain reportedly made by miming rolling a dice and saying: “Fuck it. Let’s do it.”
Palin proved a hit with the Republican base – many see her selection as the birth moment of the populist far-right which now dominates the party – but not with the electorate at large.
