Rep. Matt Gaetz has endorsed a Trump-DeSantis ticket for 2024.
The Florida congressman was asked about the presidential election while appearing at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday.
“I think that a Trump-DeSantis ticket would be terrific,” Gaetz told The Hill.
Though he is hopeful for the two Republican powerhouses running together, Gaetz is still endorsing former President Donald Trump for the Republican primary, saying that he “has a special magic, an energy, a coalition that excites people and welcomes people in.”
However, Rep. Gaetz also said that he thinks very highly of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
“I think very highly of him,” Gaetz said, adding, “selfishly, I want him to stay my governor for the full eight years that Floridians elected him for.”
The congressman said that he thinks Republicans will win in 2024 with Trump as the nominee, but that they will have to campaign differently than in the last two elections.
“I think we’re going to win, but we won’t win by running the same campaign we did in 2016 or 2020. In 2024, people are facing challenges that they weren’t facing because of the failures of this administration,” Gaetz. “So, it’ll require a different campaign but I think ultimately it’ll be successful.”
The only Republicans who have formally launched campaigns for the primary are Trump and his neoconservative former ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley.
While DeSantis appears to be running a shadow campaign, and has a large amount of support, he has not yet indicated if he intends to run for the White House next year.
In the meantime, Trump has nicknamed the governor “Ron DeSanctimonious” and has repeatedly lobbed digs at him on his Truth Social account.
A new poll from Yahoo News/YouGov saw Trump surging to a substantial lead over DeSantis earlier this week.
“Previously, DeSantis led Trump 45% to 41% among Republican voters. Now Trump leads DeSantis 47% to 39% — a net swing of 12 percentage points in Trump’s direction since early February,” Yahoo News reported.
The report continued to note that the “survey of 1,516 U.S. adults, which was conducted from Feb. 23 to 27, suggests that Trump could prove more resilient in 2024 than his rivals had hoped — and more difficult for someone like DeSantis to defeat.”
