MANCHESTER, N.H. ― Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in his first visit to the first-in-the-nation primary state Friday, failed to fight back against Republican presidential primary front-runner Donald Trump, who has been attacking him for months.
The coup-attempting former president has been using insults and TV ads through his supporting super PAC to damage DeSantis before he has even officially announced his candidacy, including a new one that attacks him for voting to cut Social Security and Medicare while mocking him for eating chocolate pudding with his fingers.
DeSantis spent most of his time boasting of his legislative successes in Florida, his approach to handling the COVID pandemic, his willingness to stand up to “woke” culture and his landslide re-election win in November.
His only statement remotely critical of Trump was an oblique line he has used previously that references Trump’s chaotic presidency. “We don’t have leaks, we don’t have drama,” he said, adding that all he does is defeat “the left” and win.
“I don’t care if the left doesn’t like it, and I don’t care if the media gets mad at me. I’m pressing forward,” he said.
State party chairman Chris Agar said they sold 500 tickets at $150 each for the dinner, another 100 tickets for a “VIP” reception that included a photo with DeSantis, and an additional number of “sponsorships” that, in all, brought in $382,000, with the party netting $250,000 after expenses. He said the most the party had cleared at its annual fundraising dinner previously was about $100,000. However, he told attendees that $132,000 of that had come from DeSantis supporters at his request. “We sure appreciate it,” Agar said.
Across the street from the Doubletree Hotel hosting DeSantis, meanwhile, were gathered a couple of dozen Trump supporters holding campaign flags, continuing a pattern of pro-Trump protests at DeSantis appearances across the country in recent months.
Lou Gargiulo, who chaired Trump’s New Hampshire campaign in 2016 and 2020, denied that his presence had anything to do with DeSantis. “This isn’t really a protest. We have regular flag waves across the state for Trump,” said the 70-year-old real estate agent. “We just want to make it clear that President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party.”
Electrician Tony Boucher, though, wondered why DeSantis had even come. “I just heard there’s a lot of flooding in Florida, and I’m disappointed he’s up here,” said Boucher, who is 47. “I would have thought that the governor of a state would be taking care of his people.”
DeSantis, for his part, turned the visit to normally low-key New Hampshire into a high-security event. Private guards searched through handbags and backpacks, and attendees were subjected to metal detecting wands ― although, because New Hampshire is a “constitutional carry” state, anyone who was carrying a gun was permitted in, a state party official said.
DeSantis staff also made sure to keep out journalists from outlets that have written critically about the governor. The Daily Beast, for example, was initially given a credential for the speech, but it was then withdrawn after publishing a story that mentioned the incident of DeSantis eating pudding with his fingers ― which then became the focus of the new ad by the pro-Trump super PAC.
HuffPost, which has written extensively about DeSantis’s unsuccessful attempts to punish the Walt Disney Co., was also denied permission to be inside the ballroom.
DeSantis surged in 2024 Republican presidential polling after he won re-election to a second term as governor by nearly 20 points. Since then, however, his numbers have slipped dramatically against Trump as he went through quick reversals on two high-profile topics.
DeSantis initially said Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was a “territorial dispute” before clarifying his views and coming more into line with the Biden administration, establishment Republicans, NATO and the European Union.
And when news broke that Trump was likely to be indicted for falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to a porn star, DeSantis said that he didn’t have much insight into such matters.
After Trump was eventually indicted, DeSantis attacked the prosecutor in New York City and promised not to take part in an extradition of Trump ― in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Trump is also facing possible charges from investigations by Georgia prosecutors and the Department of Justice for his actions leading up to and on his Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt and by the DOJ for his refusal to turn over top secret documents, even after a subpoena demanded he do so.
It is unclear whether DeSantis would similarly attempt to protect Trump against those charges, should they come to pass.
DeSantis is expected to announce his presidential campaign at some point after the end of the state’s legislative session on May 5.