During an appearance on FNC’s “Hannity,” former President Donald Trump boasted about his endorsement of his possible 2024 Republican presidential opponent Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race.
Trump endorsed DeSantis over then-Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in the 2018 Florida Republican gubernatorial primary, which is thought to have propelled DeSantis to the Republican Party nomination.
“I said, ‘You write out what you’d like and let me see it,’” Trump said. “He wrote it out. I thought it was terrible. I changed it, made it great, and I gave him a great endorsement. From the moment I pressed that button, he blew the guy away. The race was over.”.
Trump also credited himself partly for DeSantis’ victory over the 2018 Democratic Party nominee, then-Tallahassee, FL Mayor Andrew Gillum.
“And there was no way Ron was going to beat Gillum,” he added. “So he got the nomination. But there was no way because this guy was going to be the future of the Democrat Party. And I said, ‘Ron, you can beat this guy. Let’s go.’”
According to Trump, without his help, the Florida governor would have a different occupation.
“I got him the nomination,” he said. “By the way, he could have never gotten the nomination. He would be working in either a pizza parlor place or a law office right now. OK?”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
