Florida Governor Ron DeSantis avoided commenting on a potential candidacy for the presidency of the United States in 2028 and stated that it is still too early to discuss potential candidates.
Instead of advancing his political plans, he urged the Republican Party to analyze the reasons for their defeat in the recent midterm elections, especially in states where they had traditionally achieved good results.
In statements released this Thursday by Fox News, DeSantis also declined to mention potential Republican candidates for the upcoming presidential elections and stated that his priority is to understand what went wrong in the elections of November 3rd.
"I think it's too early to know who is going to run, who is going to do this," said the governor, whose name is among the possible candidates for the 2028 Republican nomination.
DeSantis insisted that his party needs to examine the reasons for their defeats before starting to define candidates for the upcoming presidential elections.
"I believe we do need to understand what happened in the midterm elections. I mean, we were losing Georgia, North Carolina, Texas. These are states where we traditionally do well, and we were losing them by really, really wide margins. So, why did that happen?" he questioned.
The governor wondered how the Republicans could regain their footing for 2028, after losing ground in areas that had been crucial for their electoral victories.
He also warned about the difficulties a future Republican president might face if the Democrats maintain control of Congress.
"They won so many seats in the Senate that a president could come in with a Congress controlled by the Democrats. So, if you're a Republican, how do you handle that? How do you actually get things done?" he raised.
DeSantis acknowledged that the party is still trying to understand the magnitude of what happened and stated that these questions should occupy a central place in discussions about its future.
"I know that we are still, in a way, sifting through the rubble and all that. But these are truly important matters we need to consider for the future," he expressed.
At the beginning of the month, DeSantis described the outcome of the midterm elections as an event close to an "extinction-level event" for Republicans, warning that its consequences could last a decade or even longer.
The Democratic Party regained control of both chambers of Congress, as well as achieving significant victories in traditionally conservative states.
Florida, however, remained under Republican control, with Byron Donalds' victory in the gubernatorial election and Ashley Moody's reelection to the federal Senate.
The political future of DeSantis has gained more prominence since those results.
Last Saturday, the governor denied having initiated contacts with political consultants to prepare a presidential candidacy in 2028, after a news report indicated that he was organizing a new campaign.
"I haven’t contacted anyone to present myself for anything," he wrote then on X, rejecting claims about supposed electoral preparations.
DeSantis already tried to reach the White House in 2024, when he competed against Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.
However, he withdrew from the race on January 21 of that year, after finishing second in the Iowa caucuses, and announced his support for the current president.
His second term as governor of Florida will conclude in January 2027, and he cannot run for a third consecutive term due to the limitations established in the state constitution.
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