DeSantis to publish book amid heavy 2024 speculation

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is set to publish a memoir next year amid increasing speculation that he will run for the White House and challenge former President Trump for the GOP nomination.

The memoir, titled “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival,” is set to be released in late February by HarperCollins Publishers’s Broadside Books. It will detail the Florida governor’s formative years and time serving in the military and government.

DeSantis emerged from the midterm elections in a stronger position after gliding to reelection. The results have left some Republicans clamoring for him to challenge Trump, who announced his own reelection bid the week after the elections.

Several of Trump’s endorsed candidates lost in the midterms, leading some Republicans to step up criticism of the former president and argue their party would be better off with a different standard-bearer.

According to the book’s publisher, DeSantis’s memoir will touch on “a firsthand account from the blue-collar boy who grew up to take on Disney and Dr. Fauci” — a nod to some of the culture war battles that the Republican governor has taken on issues like COVID-19 protocol.

News of the memoir’s release was first reported by Fox News. 

Book releases frequently go hand-in-hand with presidential announcements, and the news of the memoir is likely to increase talk that DeSantis is going to get into the 2024 race.

The Florida governor has not formally announced such an intention, but Republicans in recent weeks have increasingly pointed to him as a strong candidate.

Several other Republicans who have been widely floated as 2024 presidential contenders have begun releasing books of their own, including former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.