DeSantis brushes off Trump attacks: ‘All that’s just noise’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) brushed off attacks from former President Trump while taking questions at a high school on Tuesday, saying the criticism he has received from the former president is “just noise.” 

“I think what you learn is, all that’s just noise, and really what matters is, are you leading, are you getting in front of issues, are you delivering results for people and are you standing up for folks?” he said. “And if you do that, then none of that stuff matters.” 

DeSantis said at Fort Walton Beach High School, located on the Florida Panhandle, that he is focused on “results and leadership” and pointed to his overwhelming success in his reelection bid. 

He defeated Democrat Charlie Crist by almost 20 points, and Republicans up and down the ballot in Florida won key races, leading to supermajorities in the state legislature. 

“One of the things I’ve learned in this job: When you’re leading and getting things done, you take incoming fire. That’s just the nature of it,” DeSantis said. 

Trump has recently stepped up attacks on DeSantis, as the former president is expected to announce his third run for the presidency on Tuesday. 

DeSantis is seen by many in the GOP as the most promising alternative to Trump in the 2024 presidential primary, and polls in the past week have shown the Florida governor’s popularity rising within the party.

Trump has received much of the blame for the GOP’s disappointing midterm results across the country after he backed losing candidates in a number of high-profile races.

Meanwhile, DeSantis won his race for the governorship by the widest margin in decades and oversaw strong GOP victories in the state. 

Recent polls have showed DeSantis leading Trump in a hypothetical one-on-one in some key states and closing the gap nationally. 

Trump attacked DeSantis on Thursday for being an “average governor” and claimed that his endorsement of DeSantis is why he won the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election. He has also dubbed him “Ron DeSanctimonious” during a rally and in subsequent statements.