Donald Trump: ‘I was at the beginning of Ron DeSantis’

Former U.S. President Donald Trump praised Gov. Ron DeSantis, while also taking credit for the Governor’s political ascent and stopping short again of promising DeSantis the number two spot on a prospective presidential ticket in 2024.

“I was at the beginning of Ron. I was the first one to endorse him,” Trump reminded a national audience.

Trump made the comments Monday during an interview on the Fox Business Network’s “Varney and Co.,” after extolling Florida’s pandemic response under DeSantis.

Host Stuart Varney, a veteran broadcaster familiar with working Trump interviews, pressed Trump on whether DeSantis would meet muster as a running mate. However, the former President was too cagey to commit when asked if he would “consider” running with Florida’s Governor.

“Sure, I would. But there are numerous people who are great. I would certainly consider Ron,” Trump said, before reminding viewers of his role in DeSantis’ 2018 election.

“I was at the beginning of Ron. I was the first one to endorse him when he came out as a Congressman that a lot of people didn’t know. My endorsement helped him tremendously. And I know him very well. He’s a great guy,” Trump said.

“We have other great people. You look at some of the people, Republican people that have done a great job with states,” Trump said. “You don’t see that with the Democrats.”

Trump has said DeSantis would be “considered” before.

Trump’s comments continue a theme of reminding audiences that he was an early endorser of DeSantis, a running trend since the 2018 campaign for Florida Governor.

“I don’t want to brag about it, but man, do I have a good record of endorsements,” Trump told a crowd in West Virginia. “In Florida, we have a great candidate, his name is Ron DeSantis, and he called me, and asked whether or not I could endorse him.”

“I said ‘Let me check it out,’ This was a few months ago. He was at three, and I gave him a nice shot, and a nice little tweet — bing bing — and he went from three to like twenty something.”

Trump kicked off the DeSantis boomlet late in 2017, when he tweeted a pro-DeSantis message, saying he “would make a great governor of Florida.”

The comments on DeSantis Monday came after Trump lauded Florida for its virus response during the Fox Business segment.

“You’re going to be in a position where if you go down to Florida, I spend a lot of time in Florida, if you go down to Florida it really is, they’ve done a really good job, Ron’s done a really good job. It really is as though you don’t see it. You don’t see it,” Trump ruminated. “People feel free in Florida, I can tell you that. And they feel that way in Texas.”