Former Bush staffer Scott Jennings has reportedly urged Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to run against former President Donald Trump in the Republican presidential race in 2024.
The former president, who began his third presidential candidacy in November, has openly considered DeSantis as a possible opponent in the 2017 election.
In recent polls, the two potential challenges have been neck and neck among Republican voters’ preferred nominees.
According to Jennings, the only way to keep Trump from getting the Republican nominee is for DeSantis to enter the race and defeat him.
“There’s only one strategy for getting rid of Trump, it’s to beat his ass. I mean, I don’t know what else to say. Ron DeSantis will have to get in this race and beat him. That’s the only way to make this go away. Now, he might have legal troubles and other things are gonna happen, that’s it. There’s no other strategy but to run and get more votes and win and there are things that will complicate that.” Jennings said during an appearance on CNN.
“If DeSantis wants to make a go at this, the reservoir of support exists to do it, the message, the generational message exists to do it, but he’s gotta do it.” He continued.
In recent months, Trump has targeted Florida Governor DeSantis, nicknaming him ‘DeSanctimonious’ and insinuating he was responsible for his extremely successful political career.
Polls have been mixed regarding whether Trump or DeSantis has the edge when it comes to a hypothetical 2024 matchup.
So far only Trump has officially declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination although many expect DeSantis will also announce his candidacy in the coming months.
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