(NewsNation) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said recent criticism from former President Donald Trump is “just noise” while visiting a Florida high school Tuesday.
“When you’re leading, when you’re getting things done, you take incoming fire, that’s just the nature of it,” DeSantis said, according to a video from The Florida Channel.
“Really, what matters is, are you leading, are you getting in front of issues, are you delivering results for people, and are you standing up for folks?” DeSantis continued. “And if you do that, then none of that stuff matters.”
Trump, once a supporter of DeSantis, recently criticized the man now seen as the former president’s chief rival for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
Speaking to NewsNation, Trump said DeSantis was not even going to be a factor in the 2018 GOP gubernatorial midterm primary until Trump endorsed him.
“I got him the nomination. He didn’t get it. I got it, because the minute I made that endorsement, he got it,” Trump said. He’s also attacked DeSantis for being an “average governor,” and called him “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
A couple of new polls on who should be the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election show DeSantis either beating or gaining ground on Trump.
Neither politician has officially said they are running for president, but it is highly anticipated Trump will do so Tuesday night, during a “big announcement” he teased before the midterm elections. DeSantis, meanwhile, is coming off of a reelection bid he won by nearly 20 points during the Tuesday midterms.
NewsNation will cover Trump’s announcement at 9 p.m. EST with post-show analysis by Chris Cuomo. You can click here to see how to watch, or download the NewsNation app.
One new survey from the Texas Republican Party shows 43% of people likely to participate in a 2024 presidential primary in the state backing DeSantis, and 32% voting for Trump, the Hill reported. In another poll, released Tuesday by Politico-Morning Consult, 33% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they would vote for DeSantis if the 2024 primary race were held today. That shows marked improvement from a previous Politico-Morning Consult poll earlier this month in which DeSantis had 26%.
Although Trump still had a lead on the Florida governor with 47%, he slipped one percentage point compared to the previous Politico-Morning Consult poll.
Last month, DeSantis also bested Trump in an ABC News/Ipsos poll asking GOP voters who should guide the Republican Party into the future. Of the registered Republicans asked, 72% believe that DeSantis should have a “great or good” deal of influence, and 64% said the same about Trump.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
