Ron DeSantis fuels further speculation about the 2024 bid with a multi-city law-and-order tour

Ron DeSantis has gone national, visiting Staten Island Monday morning for a law enforcement breakfast and remarks on his “blueprint for keeping communities safe” while kicking off his Law and Order tour.

The Florida governor’s swing through the North is fueling speculation he’s getting closer to announcing a presidential nomination in 2024. His trip will also include stops in Philadelphia and Chicago.

Some local reporters say DeSantis should expect to run into protesters who are particularly upset about the governor’s plan to send migrants to Democratic bastions like New York and other cities in the Northeast.

The visit coincides with the President’s Day holiday and comes as former President Donald Trump continues to launch attacks on DeSantis, who is quickly emerging as the person most likely to defeat the former president in a primary.

During the breakfast and law enforcement rally at the Privé Catering Hall on Staten Island’s south shore, DeSantis began his remarks by claiming that leaders in cities like New York “put their safety ahead of the waking ideology.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis kicked off his multi-city Law and Order tour Monday with a stop in Staten Island to speak with law enforcement officials and supporters

DeSantis attended a police breakfast at the Privé Catering Hall (pictured) on Staten Island — New York City’s reddest borough

He also accused Democratic politicians of trying to “wake each other up” to win primaries in left-leaning enclaves like New York, winning primaries because of the extreme political imbalance in those areas.

Staten Island is New York’s reddest borough and the only one to have voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020. In the 2020 election, 57 percent of Staten Islanders voted for Trump’s re-election.

Monday’s trip tested DeSantis’ odds among some of Trump’s strongest supporters in his former hometown.

It seems a few hundred people turned up for the event, and the room was filled with enthusiasm for DeSantis. Some cheered when DeSantis asked if they were planning to move to Florida.

DeSantis was introduced by former Congressman Lee Zeldin, who retired from the House of Representatives to run for the House of Representatives against Governor Kathy Hochul. Despite the loss, Zeldin received the highest percentage of the vote for a Republican gubernatorial nominee since 2002 — and the highest raw vote for a Republican gubernatorial nominee since 1970.

Much of his success in the Deep Blue State race has been attributed to his focus on returning to old New York ideals of law and order.

DeSantis’ President’s Day speech kicks off his multi-city tour promoting his pro-cop, law-abiding and regulatory style of government.

A factsheet accompanying the tour notes that the governor’s remarks aim to “share Florida’s blueprint for community safety and offer support when blue cities turn their backs on law enforcement.”

DeSantis has remained relatively quiet on the front of presidential ambitions, saying at a news conference this month, “Wouldn’t you like to know?” when a reporter asked if he would run now, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced her bid.

Former New York Representative Lee Zeldin, who lost his run for governor in the 2022 midterm election, introduced DeSantis for his remarks in Privé on the morning of President’s Day

DeSantis began his remarks by claiming that leaders in cities like New York “put woke ideology before your safety” and are trying to “wake each other up.”

Republican New York City Council member Joe Borelli speculated the trip was a “sign” that DeSantis is getting in the race — and even suggested announcing his offer.

“Staten Island was the headquarters of the GOP’s first presidential campaign in 1856 for John Fremont. Maybe it’s a sign,” Borelli wrote. Fremont did not become president.

Trump has relentlessly attacked DeSantis, insulting the Florida governor on an almost daily basis before he even announced a presidential candidacy.

The latest came late Sunday, as Trump reported on a new poll showing support for DeSantis waning in a neck-and-neck race with the former president and using his oft-used nickname for the governor – “DeSanctimonious.” .

“Naturally [support] cools,” Trump said. He wants to cut Social Security and Medicare, loves ‘throw her over the cliff’ Paul Ryan, who destroys FoxNews (sic) and the WSJ, Piglet Karl Rove and ‘Jeb’. Additionally, Ron DeSanctimonious is Charles Koch for the Globalist Club For NO Growth and Open Borders. We want AMERICA FIRST, NOT AMERICA LAST!!!’

Just before midnight Saturday, the former President also accused DeSantis of being a “RINO in disguise.”

This post on Trump’s social media site Truth Social came almost 24 hours after he vowed not to shame DeSantis after reporting that he privately referred to the GOP governor as “Meatball Ron.”

The tour fuels speculation that DeSantis will soon start a presidential GOP primary against former President Donald Trump in 2024

The floodgates opened against DeSantis when Trump entered the campaign trail late last month. He told reporters on his plane between events in New Hampshire and South Carolina that it would be very “disloyal” if DeSantis made a major bid against him in 2024.

DeSantis earned his first term as Florida governor by partially riding the coattails of Trump’s endorsement in 2018.

Trump now lives full-time in the state of DeSantis at his residence at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

So far, the only two major Republicans officially running for the White House in 2024 are Trump and his former ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, and former Maryland governor , Larry Hogan.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk