Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has a reputation for not taking much guff from liberal reporters trying to goad him into making inflammatory statements, and he proved that again on Wednesday.
The popular governor, who was reelected last week by a wide margin, verbally smacked down a reporter who suggested that there is a developing Republican “civil war” after midterm elections did not go according to expectations and as former President Donald Trump announced his intention to run again for the party’s nomination in 2024.
“We just finished this election, okay? People…people just need to chill out a little bit on some of this stuff,” DeSantis said to applause from the crowd. “I mean, seriously, we just ran an election, we have this Georgia run-off coming, which is very important for Republicans to win that Georgia runoff.”
“Florida was sorta the bright spot” for the GOP, he said, noted that “it was not so bright in other parts of the country. It was a substandard performance” by the party “given the dynamics that were at play.”
“I think what people like me, who’ve been given the opportunity to continue, is, okay, let’s do something with that,” he continued.
“And the reason why we [a] historic victory is at the end of the day, we led, we delivered, and we had your back when you needed us. That is why we won big,” DeSantis said.
WATCH:
Last week following his victory, DeSantis gave a short but very powerful victory speech:
Florida was a refuge of sanity when the world went mad. We stood as a citadel of freedom for people across this country and, indeed, across the world. We faced attacks. We took the hits. We weathered the storms. But we stood our ground. We did not back down. We had the conviction to guide us, and we had the courage to lead.
We did not back down. We had the conviction to guide us and we had the courage to lead. We made promises. We made promises to the people of Florida and we have delivered on those promises. And so today, after four years, the people have delivered their verdict: freedom is here to stay.
Thanks to the overwhelming support of the people of Florida, we not only won an election, we have rewritten the political map. Thank you for honoring us with a win for the ages…
We’re still tallying the votes, but it’s clearly apparent that this election we will have garnered a significant number of votes from people who may not have voted for me four years ago. I just want to let you know, I am honored to have earned your trust and your support over these four years…
Today is the culmination of the 2022 fall elections, but in reality, Americans have been voting for many years now. They’ve been voting with their feet. And the results of that behavior has been just as stark as our landslide victory today. States and cities governed by leftist politicians have seen crimes skyrocket. They’ve seen their taxpayers abused. They’ve seen medical authoritarianism imposed. And they’ve seen American principles discarded. The woke agenda has caused millions of Americans to leave these jurisdictions for greater pastures.
Now this great exodus of Americans for those folks, Florida, for so many of them has served as the promised land. We have embraced freedom. We have maintained law and order. We have protected the rights of parents. We have respected our taxpayers. And we reject woke ideology. We fight the woke in the legislature, we fight the woke in the schools, we fight the woke in the corporations, we will never ever surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die.
People have come here because our policies work. Leadership matters. We refused to use polls and put our finger in the wind. Leaders don’t follow, they lead. We’ve set out a vision. We executed on that vision and we produced historic results. And the people of this state have responded in record fashion. Now while our country flounders due to failed leadership in Washington, Florida is on the right track. I believe the survival of the American experiment requires a revival of true American principles. Florida has proved that it can be done. We offer a ray of hope that better days still lie ahead. I am proud of our achievements in this state.
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.