Fox News host Maria Bartiromo kept it frank with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over former President Donald Trump’s big lead against him in national polls. (You can check out the interview in the clip below)
The Florida governor has trailed Trump the entire year in an average of national polls and, as of Sunday, is behind the GOP frontrunner by over 40 percentage points, according to polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight.
“Let’s face it, governor, Donald Trump is ahead of you by a significant margin,” Bartiromo told DeSantis during his appearance on “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“I think the last poll was 52 percent, above, right now, for Trump. How are you going to cut into Trump’s lead? What truly is your path to victory?”
DeSantis, in response, fired back at the host as he broke down his plan to hold onto his 2024 hopes.
“You show up, you make the case, you don’t mail it in, you don’t go missing in action, you meet voters on the ground in the early states, Iowa, New Hampshire, in particular, and tell them about the future of the country and why you’re the best candidate,” he replied.
“And so I think that I’ll be the guy I’ve been the most dependable leader of the Republican Party has had in recent years. I’ve delivered. I haven’t just talked. And that’s what we need in Washington. The time for excuses is over. 2024 is make or break. We’re not getting a mulligan on this one. We either get the job done or we’re going to be in a hole in this country for the next generation.”
DeSantis’ continued push for the GOP presidential nomination arrives just days after he took a jab at the former president during a Trump-less debate on Wednesday.
Trump, in a Michigan speech on the same night, said he didn’t think he saw his 2024 running mate among the “job candidates” on the debate stage.
DeSantis, when asked if he’d “partner up” with Trump and be his vice presidential pick in 2024, dismissed the possibility.
“No, I’m running for president,” DeSantis said.
“We need somebody that can serve two terms. We need somebody that can win states like Georgia and Arizona, which President Trump cannot do or did not do, even though candidates like McCain and Romney had no problem winning those states.”