TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Another week down in the run-up to the 2024 election, and former President Donald Trump’s federal indictment is no longer taking up all the oxygen.
Instead, he and his chief rival Gov. Ron DeSantis have started arguing over who hated COVID lockdowns more.
Both Republicans initially backed the pandemic mitigation method to slow the spread of the virus in April 2020. Yet, the former president has been hammering the governor hard this week, alleging he performed poorly during the outbreak via ads like this one and video statements.
"Florida was locked down," Trump said in a post online. "He locked it down like you wouldn't believe. Remember? He closed the highways; he closed the beaches. Florida was the third worst state in deaths by COVID. That's your scorecard. That's a sad scorecard."
DeSantis' campaign fired back, highlighting an archival video of Trump from 2020 in which the former president tells members of the press: "If some governor said-- has a lot of cases, a lot of death-- and they want to open early, we're not going to let it happen."
The governor also responded directly to Trump's attacks during a Thursday press event.
"When you are saying that Cuomo did better on COVID than Florida did, you are revealing yourself to just be full of it," DeSantis said in Tampa. "Nobody believes that."
Later, in South Carolina, DeSantis broke from the back and forth to talk policy at a town hall. He was asked about the prospect of decriminalizing marijuana, but the candidate considered it too dangerous.
"This stuff is very powerful now that they're putting on the street," said DeSantis. "When these kids do it-- it's really bad for the youth, and I just think we need to be united as a society. We want our kids to be clear of drugs, and we don't want to do policies that's going to make it so there's easier access."
The position is further evidence DeSantis is running a hard right GOP primary campaign. In polling, it's kept him at number two, but some GOP colleagues, like Maryland's former governor, said this week DeSantis' time is close to an end.
"I think it's close to being over..." Fmr. Gov. Larry Hogan told CBS. "He just doesn't connect with people. He's not a good campaigner. He's not a good debater."
Meanwhile, yet another Republican entered the crowded GOP field. Former Texas Congressman Will Hurd launched his effort on Thursday and hit the frontrunner right out of the gate.
"Donald Trump needs to be beat-- beaten in a Republican primary," Hurd told CNN. "That's what we should-- that's what I'm planning on doing."
Pundits believe further additions to the race will only further split the vote, potentially benefiting Trump. It's something to keep in mind as new reporting from the New York Times suggests US Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida) could become the fourth Florida man to run for president this cycle. The article cites "two people familiar with the discussions," though the senator's office dismissed the idea:
“It’s flattering that some have mentioned the possibility of Senator Scott running for President, but as he’s said many times, he’s running for re-election to the Senate,” said Chris Hartline, a senior adviser to the senator, in a statement.
