DeSantis Team Denies Trump’s Rumor He’ll Drop Out Of Presidential Race To Run For Senate

Topline

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ spokesperson denied a rumor from former President Donald Trump that DeSantis could drop out of the presidential race and run for Senate instead, days after the GOP presidential debate exceeded viewership expectations, even as Trump sat out the event, suggesting GOP voters could be looking for an alternative candidate.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis during the first Republican Presidential primary debate at the Fiserv … [+] Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 23, 2023. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP)

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Key Facts

DeSantis’s spokesperson for his political operation, Bryan Griffin, called Trump’s claim made on Truth Social earlier Monday “fake news,” alleging in a tweet “Trump and his army of consultants are panicked about [DeSantis’s] winning debate performance.”

Trump, using his preferred nickname for DeSantis, Ron DeSanctimonious, wrote on Truth Social Monday that “rumors are strong in political circles” that DeSantis—whose poll numbers have fallen in recent months—plans to drop out of the race to run for Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.)’s seat.

The suggestion comes after Trump skipped the first GOP debate on Wednesday, hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee, and instead appeared in a pre-taped interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, at the same time as the debate.

Nearly 13 million viewers tuned into Wednesday’s debate between DeSantis and seven other Republican candidates, Nielsen found, the highest rating for any non-sports cable program this year, exceeding TV executives’ expectations and indicating Trump’s hold on the race may not be as strong as polls suggest.

Big Number

50%. That’s the share of GOP voters who said they will support Trump in the upcoming presidential primary, according to a new Emerson poll taken after the debate, representing a six point decline since the group’s previous poll released on August 19 and Trump’s worst showing in Emerson’s eight polls since June 2022. DeSantis, meanwhile, gained two points in the post-debate poll, but still trails Trump 50% to 12%.

Tangent

Trump bragged that his interview with Carlson received more than 150 million views—a misleading figure as views on X account for any time the post appeared on a user’s timeline, regardless of whether or how long they watched the video. The number of engagements is significantly lower, with more than 208 million reposts and more than 835 million likes as of Monday.

Surprising Fact

DeSantis could not run for the Senate without resigning as governor under Florida’s resign-to-run law which prohibits state, district, county and municipal elected officials from running for another office if the terms run concurrently. The GOP-led Florida legislature amended the law in April to add an exception for elected officials running for president and vice president in what was widely viewed as a favor to DeSantis.

Key Background

The debate took place a day before Trump turned himself in in Fulton County, Georgia, to be arrested on 13 felony charges related to his efforts to upend President Joe Biden’s election win in the state. The case marks Trump’s fourth indictment since announcing his run for president in November, but his poll numbers have continued to climb as he has intensified his attacks against DeSantis and claimed the investigations are politically motivated “witch hunts” by prosecutors aligned with Biden designed to keep him from winning the 2024 election. DeSantis, who was leading Trump in some early polls last year, has failed to net the traction expected for his campaign since announcing his candidacy in May and has experienced a number of controversies and setbacks, starting with a glitchy rollout on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter Spaces, followed by criticism surrounding Florida’s slavery curriculum for public schools and his ongoing legal battle with Disney. His campaign has also faced a cash crunch and was forced to lay off some staffers earlier this summer as it waged a reboot. And he has failed to attract support from some major GOP political donors, while Trump has far out-paced him when it comes to Republican congressional donations.