Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) claimed his top rival in the GOP presidential primary, former President Donald Trump, would not accept the results of the first two early-nominating states if he were to lose.
“If Trump loses, he will say it’s stolen no matter what,” DeSantis told a reporter while campaigning in New Hampshire Friday afternoon. “He will try to delegitimize the results. He did that against Ted Cruz in 2016.”
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In 2016, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) won the Iowa caucus over Trump, who was then a political novice. At first, the former president congratulated Cruz for the victory before accusing him of stealing the election.
“Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he illegally stole it,” Trump tweeted in the aftermath. “That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got more votes than anticipated. Bad!”
The tweet was deleted minutes later. Trump then called for a new contest. “Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified,” he tweeted.
Trump ultimately went on to become the GOP standard-bearer and defeat Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
DeSantis also claimed that Trump had likely never accepted losing as a candidate, a notable shift from his past comments.
“I don’t think there’s been a single time he’s ever been in competition for something where he didn’t get it … where he’s accepted, I don’t think he will do that,” the Florida governor said.
The comments are a stark contrast for DeSantis, who has claimed that the two criminal indictments Trump faces over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election were a result of the “weaponization” of the Justice Department. When Trump was indicted for a third time on Aug. 1 by special counsel Jack Smith, DeSantis did not criticize Trump, instead denouncing the DOJ.
“As President, I will end the weaponization of government, replace the FBI Director, and ensure a single standard of justice for all Americans,” DeSantis wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “While I’ve seen reports, I have not read the indictment. I do, though, believe we need to enact reforms so that Americans have the right to remove cases from Washington, DC to their home districts.”
Trump was also indicted Aug. 14 in Georgia on charges of attempting to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.
“Ron DeSantis is acting out on his Lincoln Project fantasies and doing his best impression of a Never Trumper by reciting Democrat talking points peddled by Crooked Joe Biden and his campaign,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said of DeSantis’s remarks. “When Ron’s political career is finished in a few weeks, he can start moonlighting as a Democrat surrogate because he’s showing everyone his true colors.”
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Trump currently leads DeSantis and his rivals in national polling. A RealClearPolitics poll average shows Trump at 60.3% while DeSantis is at 12.6%. The two men are battling for votes in the Iowa caucuses, which are scheduled for Jan. 15, 2024.
A strong win for Trump in Iowa could thwart DeSantis’s presidential ambitions, while a win in Iowa for DeSantis would boost his campaign as it has struggled to dethrone Trump.
