DeSantis says GOP must end a 'culture of losing' but still won't acknowledge Trump lost

Zac Anderson, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·2 min read
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Gov. Ron DeSantis is pitching himself as a winner as he gears up to run for president and urging the GOP to reject a "culture of losing," but when asked Monday if he acknowledges Trump lost the 2020 election and there wasn't widespread voter fraud, DeSantis dodged the question.

"When 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," DeSantis said, adding that Biden was "very unpopular in 2022 and we were supposed to have this big red wave and other than like Florida and Iowa I didn't see a red wave across the country.

"And so I think the party has developed a culture of losing, I think there's not accountability."

Gov. Ron DeSantis laughing after throwing one of his pens, as he coined it, into the peanut gallery, that he used to sign one of three bills into legislation on Monday May 15, 2023, at New College of Florida. One of the main bills, banning state funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Florida's public universities, which the governor has transformed into a conservative higher education experiment.

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DeSantis' careful framing of the events surrounding the 2020 election shows how the issue is a delicate one for him with GOP voters heading into the 2024 campaign.

Whether DeSantis can make the case that the GOP needs a winner without explicitly calling Trump a loser and acknowledging the election wasn't stolen is an open question.

DeSantis has danced around the stolen election question for years, possibly because many GOP voters firmly believe Trump's unfounded fraud claims and view him as the rightful 2020 election winner, which could complicate DeSantis' message about GOP losses.

Trump's campaign responded to DeSantis' comments by saying he "continues to dodge this critical issue."

"If Ron DeSantis wants to run for president, he is not going to be able to cower when it comes to addressing the rigged 2020 election. Republican voters want a nominee that recognizes the systematic failures that plagued the 2020 elections," said Make America Great Again Inc. spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signs three bills into legislation on Monday May 15, 2023, at New College of Florida. One of the main bills, banning state funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Florida's public universities, which the governor has transformed into a conservative higher education experiment.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signs three bills into legislation on Monday May 15, 2023, at New College of Florida. One of the main bills, banning state funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs at Florida's public universities, which the governor has transformed into a conservative higher education experiment.

During a visit to Sioux Center, Iowa, over the weekend DeSantis told a crowd that "there's no substitute for victory. We must reject the culture of losing that's infected our party in recent years. The time for excuses is over. We've got to demonstrate the courage to lead and the strength to win."

The implication is that Trump is a loser and the GOP needs someone like DeSantis who won re-election last year by 19 percentage points.

DeSantis didn't mention Trump Monday, though, when asked about his "culture of losing" message.

"I think in Florida we really showed what it takes to not just win, win big and then deliver big," DeSantis said.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Gov. DeSantis doesn't want to talk about Trump stolen election claim

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