Ron DeSantis expressed concerns about how to avoid “pissing off” supporters of President Donald Trump in a leaked video from when he was a candidate for Florida governor in 2018.
In the footage obtained by ABC News, Republican Representative Matt Gaetz asked Mr DeSantis, then a congressman, in a debate preparation: “Is there any issue upon which you disagree with President Trump?”
In response, Mr DeSantis sighed and said: “I have to figure out how to do this.”
“Obviously there is because, I mean, I voted contrary to him in the Congress,” he said.
“I have to frame it in a way that's not going to piss off all his voters.”
Mr DeSantis had won the Republican primary largely on the back of his full-throated support of Mr Trump, even cutting an ad with him building a mock version of Mr Trump’s proposed wall on the US-Mexico border with his young child. He had also appeared on Fox News repeatedly, ultimately earning Mr Trump’s endorsement.
Mr DeSantis ultimately says he would respond to the question by saying he would “do what I think is right” and “support [Trump's] agenda.”
“If I have a disagreement, I talk to him in private,” Mr DeSantis said.
The clip is part of nearly two and a half hours of internal tapes from Mr DeSantis’s debate prep sessions. The leak comes as Mr DeSantis prepares to announce his candidacy for the 2024 Republican nomination for president, wherein he will run against Mr Trump.
Since then, though, Mr Gaetz and fellow Florida Republican Representative Byron Donalds have gotten behind Mr Trump instead of Mr DeSantis, along with a slew of other Republicans from Florida’s delegation.
Florida’s state legislature recently concluded its session, which gave Mr DeSantis significant policy wins. But Mr Trump has attacked Mr DeSantis relentlessly, calling him Ron “DeSanctimonious.”
