Ron DeSantis Preemptively Rejects VP Offer From Trump, Says Trump Accomplished Nothing as President

When Ron DeSantis dropped out of the GOP primary last month, he declared, “It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance,” and endorsed the ex-president. But ask DeSantis his thoughts about the former guy in private, and apparently he doesn’t have the best things to say!

During a call with supporters on Wednesday, the Florida governor said he had no interest in being Trump’s VP, claimed the 45th POTUS accomplished nothing of importance as president, and went after the conservative media for refusing to honestly cover the guy, i.e., run critical stories about him. “People were mentioning me,” DeSantis said of potentially serving as Trump’s running mate. “I am not doing that.” (On Tuesday, Trump confirmed to Fox News that DeSantis was one of several people he was considering for the job.) “I have heard that they’re looking more in identity politics,” DeSantis told his supporters. “I think that’s a mistake. I think you should just focus on who the best person for the job would be.”

Discussing his failure to beat out the ex-president for the nomination, the governor blamed Trump’s legal problems, saying: “The dynamics of the race were, he kept getting indicted, and he drew more support out of sympathy for that.” He warned that those legal problems would be “baggage” for Trump in the general election, but still claimed that Biden was “going to be the gift that keeps on giving.” DeSantis also criticized the right-wing media for its fawning coverage of his former opponent, saying, “Their business model just doesn’t work if they offer any criticism of Trump.” He added that Trump “could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, and the conservative media wouldn’t even report on it.” (To be fair, if we’re making predictions, it’d probably report on it but immediately claim the shooting was justified because the victim was an undocumented immigrant.)

As for DeSantis’s thoughts on a second Trump administration? If it’s anything like the first, his expectations are probably low. Per The New York Times:

At one point, Mr. DeSantis lacerated Mr. Trump’s record as president, saying he had failed to deliver on many campaign promises. “I was in Congress the first two years when Trump was president,” Mr. DeSantis said. “I mean, we didn’t really do what we said we would do. You didn’t see any major immigration, border, or any type of legislation. You didn’t see anything with repealing and replacing Obamacare. You didn’t see anything about reining in the bureaucracy. I mean, it was pretty, pretty mundane stuff.”

While DeSantis left the door open for a 2028 run, saying, “I haven’t ruled anything out,” Team Trump does not appear to believe his legacy will include a stint in the White House. After a recording of the governor’s call with supporters leaked, Chris LaCivita, a top Trump adviser, called him a “sad little man” who would only be remembered for “chicken fingers and pudding cups.”

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