DeSantis Inaugurated for 2nd Term as Florida Governor

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nev., on Nov. 19, 2022. Wade Vandervort/AFP via Getty Images

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday was sworn in for a second term as Florida’s governor amid speculation and chatter that he’s planning a 2024 presidential run.

Speaking at Tallahassee at the state Capitol, the Republican governor delivered his inaugural speech and laid out his policy proposals “months and years ahead.” DeSantis was reelected by a wide margin during the November midterm elections, intensifying speculation about whether he would launch a bid for the White House.

“Freedom lives here in our great Sunshine State of Florida,” DeSantis said Tuesday, noting his state’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and social issues.

Florida’s first lady, Casey DeSantis, held the Bible as DeSantis took his oath of office. They were flanked by the three DeSantis children.

“When the world lost its mind, when common sense suddenly became an uncommon virtue, Florida was a refuge of sanity, a citadel of freedom for our fellow Americans, and even for people around the world,” DeSantis said. “In captaining the ship of state, we choose to navigate the boisterous sea of liberty rather than cower in the calm docks of despotism.”

Since taking office, DeSantis has garnered widespread conservative support for his COVID-related policies and pushback against vaccine mandates. Conservatives have also praised the governor for standing up to media outlets and corporations like Disney.

Other states have “imposed unreasonable burdens on taxpayers to finance unfathomable levels of public spending. They have harmed education by subordinating the interests of students and parents to partisan interest groups,” DeSantis said Tuesday. “They have imposed medical authoritarianism in the guise of pandemic mandates and restrictions that lack a scientific basis.”

The governor also criticized the Biden administration’s policies, including its handling of illegal immigration and the border as well as federal spending packages that DeSantis said have spiked inflation. DeSantis did not mention President Joe Biden, other Democrats, or hint at a possible Republican presidential bid.

“The results of this have been predictably dismal,” DeSantis said of federal policies. “This has caused many to be pessimistic about the country’s future. Some even say that failure is inevitable.”

But DeSantis contended that “Florida is proof positive that we the people are not destined for failure.” Upon taking office, DeSantis will enjoy Republican supermajorities in both the Florida legislature.

Presidential Speculation

Early polls of possible 2024 GOP presidential candidates suggest that DeSantis would be the chief rival to former President Donald Trump. So far, Trump is the only Republican to declare his candidacy, and DeSantis has not issued any public comments about running for president.

Around the time of the November midterms, Trump criticized DeSantis by calling him “Ron DeSanctimonious” and panned the governor’s backing of Colorado GOP Senate candidate Joe O'Dea, a Trump critic who lost by more than 10 percentage points.

For his part, DeSantis attempted to downplay the criticism and described the comments as “just noise.” In other news conferences and interviews, DeSantis has said he’s focused on being governor of Florida.

“One of the things I’ve learned in this job is when you’re leading, when you’re getting things done, you take incoming fire, that’s just the nature of it,” DeSantis said at an unrelated, mid-November press conference when a reporter asked him about Trump’s remarks.

President Joe Biden speaks in a neighborhood impacted by Hurricane Ian at Fishermans Pass in Fort Myers, Fla., on Oct. 5, 2022, as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis looks on. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

“And yet I think what you learn is, all that’s just noise. And really what matters is, are you leading, are you getting in front of issues, are you delivering results for people, and are you standing up for folks. And if you do that, then none of that stuff matters,” DeSantis said at the time.

Should DeSantis, 44, win the GOP primary in 2024, he would present a different challenge to Biden and Democrats. Biden, who recently turned 80, has not officially launched a reelection bid but has said he’s planning to.

A USA Today-Suffolk University poll recently found that 50 percent of Americans want a president between the age of 51 and 65 years old, while 25 want a president between the ages of 35—the youngest a president can be under the Constitution—and 50. Only about 8 percent wanted a president between the ages of 66 and 80.

Two days after the November midterms, several Republican governors told NBC News that it’s likely there will be GOP governors who will run for president in 2024. “I have no doubt,” New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu told the outlet, saying he believes DeSantis will run and that Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin might as well.

“People here are excited about a governor being president,” he said before adding: “It’s clearly [what] at least this group of folks want to see.”