Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday denied that he has already put the gears in motion for a 2028 presidential run after his party’s midterm drubbing.
The Washington Post reported the outgoing Republican governor had already contacted a national political consultant about working for a potential campaign.
Mr. DeSantis denied the reporting.
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“The Washington Post is fabricating this out of whole cloth,” he wrote. “I have not reached out to anybody about running for anything. Just another pathetic attempt to garner clicks. Using anonymous sources, of course!”
However, the outgoing Florida governor has not ruled out another presidential run.
“I’ll be a free man come Jan. 5,” he told CNN after Election Day when asked if he would run for president. “And then we’ll look to see the landscape.”
On the broadcast, he expressed concerns about the Republican Party’s future national viability after losing Texas and the high likelihood that Democrats will continue to control the House and Senate into the next presidency.
“That has huge impact on your ability to staff an administration, to get judges on courts of appeals and, potentially, the U.S. Supreme Court,” he said of Democratic Senate control. “The dust is settling. You know, I’m going to look at that. Like I said, I haven’t planned anything.”
Republicans failed to pick up any new seats in Florida, despite passing a congressional map in April that was expected to shift four Democratic-held seats in the GOP’s favor.
However, Republicans also did not lose any House seats in Florida and held onto the governorship and the state’s Senate seat.
Mr. DeSantis has attributed Republicans’ relative success in Florida to his record of governance and to a property tax ballot measure that motivated Republicans to turn out.
The Florida governor has appeared on several networks and podcasts, offering explanations for Republicans’ electoral troubles.
Shortly before Election Day, he said Republicans were “gaslighting” voters by minimizing the consequences of the Iran war.
Since Tuesday, he has criticized his party’s response to cost-of-living complaints and its candidate choices.
He said on Wednesday that Republicans spent the midterms “fighting yesterday’s battles” by running ads focused on transgender issues.
Mr. DeSantis sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 and dropped out shortly after losing the New Hampshire presidential primary to now-President Trump.
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