Sources tell Semafor that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is still campaigning for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination despite voters having largely forgotten it was still happening at this point.
“I fought against Fauci when he was popular,” DeSantis said during a Thursday interview with former Fox News journalist Megyn Kelly in which he was introduced as a presidential candidate. “It’s easy for Republicans to ding him now because he’s unpopular with the broader electorate. Back then, Donald Trump used to cite Fauci’s poll numbers as a reason why Fauci was somebody that should be listened to,” DeSantis continued, referring to the former president and all-but-certain nominee.
Other reports indicate that DeSantis’s recent visits to the state of Iowa are for the purposes of securing support for the still-ongoing presidential campaign, rather than simply engaging in sometimes awkward conversations with residents about certain subjects related to politics at county fairs and other public gatherings in the state in which presidential candidates often appear.