Governor Gavin Newsom of California stated on Thursday that the withdrawal of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis from the Republican race was a prudent decision that potentially safeguarded his political future.
When asked on MSNBC whether the failure of his 2024 presidential campaign by his cross-country rival destroyed his political career, Newsom expressed dissent.
“I think if he continued on. [DeSantis] was going to get trounced in his own state.” Newsom said.
Additionally, Newsom provided a response to a video recently published by DeSantis on X where he was seen making NFL playoff predictions for his young son.
“Just on a humanizing level, having spent a tiny bit of time with him but obviously studying him for some time, he’s a different guy. Now I saw him with his kid on a video, I’m like ‘who’s that guy?’” Newsom said during an interview with MSNBC’s Alex Wagner.
“He was so wound up. Joyless. And you know, you can say what you want about Trump. He seems a little less wound up. He is winding up in terms of his rhetoric but a little more entertaining in that respect. You have got to know your why. I never felt like he had a why.” he continued.
Newsom also criticized the other Republican presidential candidates for holding the belief that they could “out-Trump” Trump while he remained in the race.
“With Trump in the race, you were going to somehow try to deconstruct and connect and attach yourself to Trumpism with Trump in the race and sort of take it from him?” Newsom stated.Â
“The premise of it is rather — I don’t mean this as a cheap shot — rather delusional. Maybe you didn’t think he was going to run, maybe you thought he was going to be convicted earlier for a crime, I don’t know what they were thinking, but it was so predictable. All of this was predictable.” Newsom concluded.
In the New Hampshire primary, Trump prevailed over Haley by a margin of 10 points. This followed his decisive triumph in the Iowa caucuses, which forced DeSantis to withdraw from the contest.
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