Ron DeSantis calls Trump’s COVID lockdown criticisms ‘ridiculous’ at his first US presidential marketing campaign occasion

Ron DeSantis has begun his bid to turn into the Republican candidate for US president by claiming he’s America’s saviour and calling a few of frontrunner Donald Trump’s criticisms “ridiculous”.

The Florida governor desires to be his celebration’s candidate to problem Joe Biden in subsequent yr’s presidential election.

His key rival for the GOP nomination is former president Mr Trump, who has an enormous lead in opinion polls and an unbreakable grip on the celebration, in accordance with some commentators.

At his first occasion as a candidate, Mr DeSantis, 44, informed round 500 individuals at an evangelical Christian church in Iowa on Tuesday the US is “going in the wrong direction. We can see it and we can feel it.”

His clearest criticisms of the frontrunner got here when talking to reporters afterwards.

Promising to “fight back” towards the previous president, he rubbished Mr Trump’s suggestion that New York’s pandemic response was higher than Florida’s, calling it “detached from reality.

“That criticism is ridiculous. But it is a sign that the previous president would double down on his lockdowns.

“When we disagreed [while Mr Trump was president], I never bashed him publicly because he was taking all this incoming from the media, the left, and even some Republicans.

“And the entire collusion was a complete farce. And he was handled very, very poorly. And that bothered me, and it nonetheless bothers me to be trustworthy.

“So, I never really would air those disagreements. Well, now he’s attacking me over some of these disagreements, but I think he’s doing it in a way that the voters are going to side with me.”

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The governor’s look got here six days after a stumbling on-line announcement to launch his bid.

Mr DeSantis turns into the most recent in a crowded Republican contest to determine whether or not the celebration will transfer on from Trump in 2024 because it goals to retake the White House from Democrat Joe Biden.

Those already within the GOP subject embrace Trump, former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina senator Tim Scott, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson.

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Sometimes described as “Trump without the chaos”, Mr DeSantis has nicknamed Florida “the place where woke
goes to die” and brought on the Disney Corporation after it opposed a state regulation banning classroom classes on sexual orientation and gender id in early years.

Mr DeSantis’ marketing campaign funds may improve by as much as $80m (£64,724m) after a division in his personal administration modified state guidelines, NBC stated.

A state-level political committee Mr DeSantis led for the previous 5 years, referred to as Friends of Ron DeSantis, is broadly anticipated to switch the sum to a federal tremendous PAC known as Never Back Down backing his bid for president.

The change overturns at the very least 5 years of state election guidelines, NBC stated.