Ron DeSantis Challenged by Reporter in Awkward TV Interview

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was grilled during an interview on CNN about why he does not attack the character of his main 2024 GOP presidential primary rival, Donald Trump.

In DeSantis' first appearance on The Source With Kaitlan Collins, the man who was once considered Trump's biggest challenger in the GOP primary but is behind in the polls tried to deflect questions about why he has not attacked the former president on a personal level to help his floundering campaign.

FiveThirtyEight's national poll-average tracker showed that Trump has an overwhelming lead in the 2024 GOP primary. As of October 26, the former president is ahead on 56.9 percent, with DeSantis second on 14.1 percent.

For several months, Trump has attacked DeSantis from all sides, taking aim at his polling numbers, policies, and the Florida governor's personality and perceived lack of charm. As noted by Collins, DeSantis has hit out at Trump over his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the former president's views on abortion, but he never talks about Trump himself.

DeSantis has not publicly commented on Trump's temperament after being fined for a second time for failing to abide by a judge's imposed gag order not to attack court staff during his civil fraud trial in New York. Nor has the governor that a man who is accused of 91 felony offenses is not fit to run for president.

Collins told the Florida governor, "you are obviously are still far behind Trump in the polls," before asking what does DeSantis "make of Trump's character?"

DeSantis replied: "At the end of the day, to me, I'm about results and I'm about outcomes. For me, it's who's going to be able to deliver the results.

"I'll be able to do that as the president. Now, he did some things I'll give him credit for, but he also promised things that he didn't deliver," DeSantis said. "So the question is, moving forward, how do you actually get America on the right track? How do we reverse this decline?

"We need a new leader, someone that can serve eight years, two four-year terms, and someone that's going to be ready on day one to really be energetic, have some vitality and some vigor and get the job done," the governor added.

Collins then told DeSantis "that's not answering the question" before again asking what he makes of Trump's character.

DeSantis replied, "it's not a concern of mine," prompting Collins to ask: "Why is it not a concern? You're running against him because you clearly believe that you should be president over him."

"That's because I think I'd be a better president than he is," DeSantis said. "I don't need to take pot shots at his character, some people like to do that."

Collins said that speaking about Trump on a personal level is not a pot shot because the "character of a president matters, does it not?"

DeSantis said: "I focus on why I would be a better president. And I think the reasons are is because I have a demonstrated record of delivering on 100 percent of my promises like I did in Florida. I'll be focused. I'll be disciplined. I'm not going to be distracted. It's not going to be about my issues. It'll be about the American people's issues day after day."

Newsweek has emailed DeSantis' office for further comment.

Andrew Romeo, communications director for the governor's campaign, told Newsweek in August, prior to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, debate: "No leader in the country has beaten back the establishment to deliver conservative victories more times than DeSantis."

On CNN, DeSantis cited his on-the-ground campaigning, including frequently visiting potential voters in the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa. The governor's campaign team appear to be pinning their hopes of a positive result there to give the rest of the 2024 campaign a boost.

"Donald Trump's not willing to show up. He's missing an action right now. He doesn't show up when he does show up, he reads off the teleprompter for 15 minutes and then he gets back on the plane and goes home," DeSantis added.

"As voters are more keyed in as we get closer to the holidays, you're not going to be able to get away with not putting in the work. So we're going to put in the work and we're gonna get the job done," DeSantis said.