DeSantis asked if Trump lost due to fraud, points to recent, frequent Republican defeats
SARASOTA, Fla. (FLV) – A reporter asked Gov. Ron DeSantis whether he believes that former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden due to “fraud.”
The reporter noted comments from DeSantis over the weekend in Iowa where he urged Republicans reject a “culture of losing.”
“Do you acknowledge that Trump lost and there wasn’t all this fraud that he talks about?” the reporter asked DeSantis.
“Well, I look at the last however many election cycles: 2018, we lost the House […] We lost the Senate in 2020, Biden becomes president and has done a huge amount of damage,” he said. “Very unpopular in 2022, and we were supposed to have this big red wave.”
“Other than, like, Florida and Iowa, I didn’t see a red wave across this country,” DeSantis continued. “I think the party has developed a culture of losing. I think that there’s not accountability.”
He pointed to his accomplishments and electoral success in Florida in 2022, winning by nearly 20 points.
“You can sit there and talk about cable news, social media, all these other things that people are fixated on. And for me, it’s like, OK, what’s that true north?” he said. “You obviously got to win otherwise you don’t get a ticket to the dance. But once you do that, how are you going to be able to actually bring about big change to make people’s lives better?”
The comments came at a bill signing at New College of Florida aimed at banning critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion from public higher education institutions.
