Candidate with courage to tell the truth
DeSantis: Trump lost, Biden won
08/07/2023 9:07 p.m
Trump’s lie that victory was stolen from him in 2020 still resonates with a majority of Republican voters. It is all the more remarkable that his rival DeSantis is now clearly speaking the truth.
Republican US presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has distanced himself more clearly than ever from ex-President Donald Trump’s allegations of election fraud. “Of course he lost,” said the right-wing hardliner in an interview with the US broadcaster NBC, excerpts of which were initially published, about his internal party rival. “Joe Biden is the President.”
The 2020 presidential election wasn’t “the perfect choice,” added the Florida governor. “I don’t think it was a well-managed election.” Among other things, DeSantis criticized the sharp increase in postal voting in the wake of the corona pandemic.
To this day, Trump claims without any evidence that he was deprived of a victory in the 2020 presidential election through massive fraud. The 77-year-old right-wing populist sees himself as a true winner and speaks of a “rigged” election. His attempts to stay in power after his defeat by Democrat Biden recently landed him on charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States.
DeSantis can’t get close to Trump in polls
However, many Republican voters also believe that the 2020 election was rigged and that Biden is not the rightful president. Given Trump’s popularity among the right-wing base, many Republican politicians are struggling to distance themselves clearly from the ex-president on the issue.
DeSantis is considered Trump’s most dangerous rival in the race for the Republican presidential nomination for the 2024 election. However, the 44-year-old governor is far behind the ex-president in polls and has not been able to significantly reduce the gap so far. In a poll from late July, Trump got 58 percent and DeSantis 15 percent. So far he has avoided openly attacking Trump. He presents himself as the better Trump – he only differs slightly in terms of content. He tries to distinguish himself as a culture fighter against the left.