Buckle up: DeSantis gets set for White House ride

The Florida governor is expected this month to formally annouce his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Ron DeSantis addresses a fundraiser in Rothschild, Wisconsin, on Saturday. Picture: AFP

Ron DeSantis touted his leadership credentials and told supporters to “buckle up” as he prepares to announce a run for the US presidency after Florida Republicans passed a series of “culture war” bills.

Mr DeSantis welcomed measures that make it easier to pass the death penalty and carry guns, and harder to get an abortion or for schools to hold lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation. The end of the 60-day legislative session in Florida on Friday marked a deadline set by Mr DeSantis before declaring whether he will take on Donald Trump for the Republican White House nomination. He is expected to make a formal announcement as soon as this month.

Mr DeSantis is seen as the main threat to Mr Trump, 76, making a third run for president after his victory in 2016 and defeat to Joe Biden in 2020, although in recent weeks the former president has opened up a strong polling lead over the 44-year-old Florida Governor.

“Buckle up over the next days and weeks,” Mr DeSantis said. “There’ll be a lot of good stuff that we’ll be highlighting based off what we’ve been able to do with the legislature.”

Florida Republicans used their super-majority in the two legislative chambers in Tallahassee to pass bills that championed conservative priorities.

Mr DeSantis has a veto but stands squarely behind most of the measures, described by a local newspaper as “aimed straight at the hearts of GOP primary voters”. He has already signed into law a bill to reduce the time frame for abortion in Florida from 15 to six weeks, drawing criticism from the White House because it follows complete bans on abortion in nearby Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, with bordering Georgia also banning abortion once cardiac activity can be detected at around six weeks.

Last week Mr DeSantis signed a bill extending the death penalty to those guilty of raping a child under 12, despite a 2008 US Supreme Court ruling that found it unconstitutional for states to use capital punishment for crimes other than murder.

Asked if he’d taken too long to get into the race with Mr Trump, he replied: “That’s chatter … don’t worry about the chatter. There’s a true north in the political sphere, most of the stuff is trying to knock you off course so don’t worry about that.”

THE TIMES