Ron DeSantis Breaks His Silence On Trump VP Rumors: ‘People Were Mentioning Me’

On Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dismissed the idea of serving as Donald Trump’s vice-presidential candidate, following Trump’s acknowledgement that DeSantis was among his top choices for a running mate. DeSantis indicated his focus lies elsewhere, contemplating another attempt at the presidency in four years.

During a thank-you call with delegates his presidential campaign had gathered for this summer’s nominating convention, DeSantis addressed the speculation directly, stating, “People were mentioning me [as a potential vice president]. I am not doing that.” The audio was exclusively obtained by The New York Post.

“I know some people are really actively seeking it. It seems to me, just from watching kind of the body language and stuff, that you have a handful of folks who seem to be auditioning for it,” DeSantis said. “I think my criteria [for running mate] was different than what probably Donald Trump’s criteria will be.”

He continued, “My criteria was, basically, I need someone who can do the job if it came to that, and I would have been the third-youngest president elected so chances are, actuarily I would probably be in pretty good shape, but you never know what else can happen, it’s happened before.”

“So you need someone who can just go in, day one, no problem, they can do the job.” He also mentioned his inclination towards governors as potential candidates, had his campaign progressed to that stage.

“I’m not sure that those are necessarily going to be the criteria that Donald Trump uses. I think he’s going to probably use different criteria. I’ve heard that they are looking more at identity politics. I think that’s a mistake. I think you should just focus on who you think the best person for the job would be.”

Discussing the possibility of a presidential bid in 2028, DeSantis, whose term as governor ends in January 2027, mentioned he has left all options open, saying, “I haven’t ‘ruled anything out.”

“We’re still in this election cycle, so it’s presumptuous to say this or that.” DeSantis further added, “I think a lot happens in politics.”

In another part of the conversation, DeSantis commented on the harsh criticisms he faced from Trump and his allies throughout the campaign. He speculated on the source of the attacks, suggesting, “I think [Trump’s] got people in his inner circle who were a part of our orbit years ago that we fired, and I think some of that is they have an ax to grind.”

“The dynamic of the race is not that they were attacking me and Republican voters all of a sudden didn’t like me,” DeSantis said. “That wasn’t it at all. The dynamics of the race were, he kept getting indicted and he drew more support out of sympathy for that, and then he had the conservative media that basically rallied to him and made it where a lot of voters thought his nomination was inevitable.”

Addressing the low voter turnout, DeSantis pointed out, “In Iowa, the reason why turnout was so low,” was because “a lot of conservative voters … had just tuned out the process because they thought he was inevitable.”

Responding to DeSantis’ comments made on Wednesday, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt sharply criticized him. She stated to The Post, “Ron DeSantis failed miserably in his presidential campaign and does not have a voice in selecting the next Vice President of the United States.”

Leavitt suggested that instead of criticizing from a distance, DeSantis should concentrate on efforts to oppose Joe Biden and contribute to the “Make America Great Again” movement.