DeSantis Rejects Idea Republicans Are Being ‘Divided’ After Midterm Performance

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

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed back on views of a division in his party following the 2022 midterm elections, and addressed why he thought Republicans underperformed expectations.

“I think the election was interesting,” the newly reelected Florida governor said after a Thursday press conference in Key Biscayne, Florida, pointing to President Joe Biden’s lagging approval rate under economic uncertainty. “We assume we were going to end up with like 245 House members, we are 222, which is a huge underperformance. The question is, why did that happen?”

The remarks came as the governor took questions from an attendee who mentioned that Republicans are being “divided” nationally. “I don’t think it’s a question of necessarily being divided as a party,” DeSantis said in response. “It’s like, ‘OK, how do you run and win majorities?’”

In the wake of his landslide victory with a double-digit lead over his rival, the rising GOP star has been taking credit for Republican leadership in Florida, and said the Sunshine State has presented a “blueprint for success” for the Republican Party looking forward.

“I think what we’ve done in Florida is we’ve shown that we’ve exercised leadership,” DeSantis continued on Wednesday. “We’ve not kowtowed, we’ve been willing to take on big interests … but producing results, and so that ends up attracting more people to want to be on your team.

“That was not something that was happening throughout the rest of the country. But I think that we really showed how it’s done in the state of Florida,” he added.

Despite being a top pick as a 2024 presidential candidate, DeSantis has remained low-key over a possible White House race and has largely refrained from criticizing former President Donald Trump. The governor also sidestepped on Dec. 1 another question asking him about daily news coverage of the former president, who announced his 2024 bid on Nov. 15.

DeSantis has distanced himself from confirming whether he will vie for the presidency in 2024. He is set to publish a book titled “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival” next February.

“Usually those voters are going to want to vote for people that are offering an alternative,” DeSantis explained while reflecting on midterm results in his Thursday speech. “And yet some of those voters throughout the country, not in Florida, but throughout the country … they still didn’t want to vote for some of our candidates.”