Campaign

DeSantis says GOP needs to reject ‘culture of losing’ to win in 2024

by Jared Gans - 05/13/23 3:18 PM ET

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a fundraising picnic for U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, Saturday, May 13, 2023, in Sioux Center, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said the GOP needs to reject a “culture of losing” that has taken hold in the party in recent years to win the elections in 2024.

DeSantis said during an appearance on Saturday at the annual Feenstra Family Picnic, an annual fundraiser hosted by Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), that Republicans will win in 2024 if they provide a “positive alternative” to President Biden and make the election a referendum on the Biden administration.

“But there’s no substitute for victory,” he said. “We must reject the culture of losing that has infected our party in recent years.”

“The time for excuses is over. We got to demonstrate the courage to lead and the strength to win,” DeSantis added.

His comments come as the Florida governor appears to be close to launching a run for the Republican nomination for president in 2024. He has on multiple occasions visited early-voting states in the Republican nominating process like Iowa and South Carolina recently, and he said earlier this month that he recognizes he needs to make a decision about the future “relatively soon.”

DeSantis has consistently placed second in hypothetical Republican primary polls, but former President Trump has maintained large leads over him and other current and potential challengers in most cases.

But Trump has received criticism from some in his party, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, over the party losing control of the House in 2018 and the presidency in 2020 and having a disappointing performance in the 2022 midterm elections.

DeSantis did not directly name Trump but seemed to join in blaming the current frontrunner for the Republican nomination for the party’s performance in recent elections.

“If we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again, and I think it’ll be very difficult to recover from that defeat,” he said.