DeSantis blasts McCarthy amid row: ‘Added trillions’ to debt
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) isn’t shying away from hitting back at House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who dissed him over the weekend.
McCarthy bashed DeSantis in an interview Sunday, saying he’s “not at the same level as President Trump.”
DeSantis has since seized on those remarks, seeking to burnish an anti-establishment message and juxtapose himself with what he describes as the big spenders in Washington, DC.
“We were supposed to have a red wave in 2022. That crashed and burned around the country. [In] Florida, we did. We delivered them four additional Republican congressmen,” DeSantis told Fox Business on Tuesday.
“Since Kevin’s been in Congress, they’ve added trillions and trillions of dollars to the debt, even when we had unified Republican government.”
That rebuttal Tuesday follows an even more sharply worded clapback Monday during a press conference in Jacksonville.
“[McCarthy] said that we are different. We are different because in Florida, we’ve run budget surpluses. We’ve paid down almost 25% of our state’s debt just since I’ve been governor,” DeSantis contended.
“I am not somebody who the DC establishment wants to see up there.”
The 45-year-old Florida governor also credited Sunshine State Republicans with helping the party take back the House of Representatives.
Republicans had a five-seat majority at the start of the year, now down to four seats due to the retirement of Utah Rep. Chris Stewart. Florida helped net four seats in the lower chamber.
McCarthy’s slight against DeSantis came amid reports that the governor had a call with Freedom Caucus Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Bob Good (R-Va.) as well as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and urged them to “keep fighting,” per Politico.
“I served with Ron DeSantis [in Congress]. He’s not at the same level as President Trump by any shape or form,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Fox News “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo.
“He would not have gotten elected [governor] without President Trump’s endorsement.”
Trump, who gave McCarthy a boost during his historically unprecedented 15-vote marathon to the speakership, has similarly credited his endorsement with helping DeSantis win the governorship in 2018.
McCarty has yet to make a formal endorsement in the 2024 contest.
During his time in Congress from 2013 to 2018, DeSantis became a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus, which has been a thorn in the side of McCarthy.
Over a dozen members from the bloc have come out in opposition to a temporary government funding patch to avert a shutdown at the end of the month.
In addition to being vexed by DeSantis’ reported encouragement of House GOP rebels, McCarthy appears keen on steering clear of alienating Trump.
Back in June, McCarthy stoked the wrath of Trump world by pondering whether the former president is “the strongest to win the election” — remarks he quickly backpedaled.
Trump remains the overwhelming 2024 GOP frontrunner with a 43.9-point edge over DeSantis, his closest foe in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate.
Republican presidential aspirants are gearing up for the second debate on Sept. 27 which Trump has already said he plans to skip.
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