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DeSantis rejects Trump’s ‘stolen’ 105,770

election claims: ‘Of course he lost’

By Josh Christenson August 7, 2023 11:14am Updated

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis doubled down on his criticism of
More On: GOP 2024 frontrunner Donald Trump over the former
Ron DeSantis president’s claims the 2020 election was “stolen” , saying
flatly that “he lost” and “Joe Biden’s the president.”
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and its ‘projected $4.6M impact’
out of Florida over ‘harmful, “Yes or no: Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?” NBC
racist policies’ News correspondent Dasha Burns asked in a clip from an
exclusive interview that aired Sunday. Mom of 5's new boyfriend — who has
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DeSantis’s proposal of “Whoever puts their hand on the Bible on Jan. 20 every four body found off hiking trail
prerecorded debate statements years is the winner,” replied DeSantis, 44, before reiterating
his issues with the way the last presidential election was run.
Top DeSantis donor halts
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demands flailing governor to “But respectfully, you did not clearly answer that question,” what to shop now
reset campaign Burns pressed. “And if you can’t give a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on
whether or not he lost —”
DeSantis swipes Trump in Iowa
over ‘unsubstantiated’ 2020 “No, of course he lost,” the Florida governor said. “Joe
fraud claims
Biden’s the president.”

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has doubled down on his criticism of GOP frontrunner Donald Trump over the former
president’s ‘stolen’ election claims in 2020.
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“No, of course he lost,” the Florida governor said of Trump. “Joe Biden’s the president.”
REUTERS

On Friday, DeSantis had called Trump’s theories of widespread voter fraud “unsubstantiated” and mocked
the 77-year-old’s outlandish claims of voting machines being hacked in key states to change the outcome.

The Florida governor also pointed Burns to election administration grants made by Meta CEO Mark
Zuckerberg , the proliferation of vote-by-mail, third-party collection of mail-in ballots and the suppression of
The Post’s bombshell report on first son Hunter Biden’s involvement of his father in his foreign business
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“Ithink what people in the media and elsewhere, they want to act like somehow this was just like the
perfect election,” DeSantis said. “I don’t think it was a good-run election … But I also think Republicans
didn’t fight back. You’ve got to fight back when that is happening.” Now on

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“Why did we have all those mail votes? Because of Trump turned the government over to Fauci,” DeSantis said.
NBC News

Trump was partially responsible for that outcome, the governor added, because $400 million in pandemic-
ra stimulus went to states to run elections — and because of former White House Coronavirus Task
Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci.

“Why did we have all those mail votes? Because of Trump turned the government over to Fauci,” he said.
“They embraced lockdowns. They did the CARES Act, which funded mail-in ballots across the country.”

Florida is one of several states that permitted voters to cast mail-in-ballots before the COVID-19
pandemic.

“Ron DeSantis should really stop being Joe Biden’s biggest cheerleader,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told The
Post in a statement.
AP

Trump pleaded not guilty Aug. 3 to a four-count indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith that
alleged the former president tried to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power and made “knowingly false”
claims about the results of the 2020 election that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

When asked about DeSantis’ comments on the 2020 election, the Trump campaign lashed out at the
Florida governor.

“Ron DeSantis should really stop being Joe Biden’s biggest cheerleader,” spokesman Steven Cheung told
The Post in a statement.

When asked about DeSantis’ comments on the 2020 election, the Trump campaign lashed out at the Florida governor.
Getty Images

The Florida governor emphasized to NBC that the indictment was “not really about Donald Trump” and
accused officials in the US justice system of having “weaponized” the rule of law for electoral advantages.

He has made similar remarks about an earlier indictment Smith brought against the former president,
which alleged Trump improperly kept classified national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and
then lied to federal authorities who requested them back.

But both indictments, DeSantis told Burns, are a distraction from the failures of Joe Biden’s presidency —
and will lead to Republican losses in 2024.

Both indictments, DeSantis told Burns, are a distraction from the failures of Joe Biden’s presidency — and will lead to
Republican losses in 2024.
REUTERS

“Ifthe election is a referendum on Joe Biden’s policies and the failures that we’ve seen and we are
presenting a positive vision for the future, we will win the presidency and we will have a chance to turn the
country around,” he said.

on the other hand, the election is not about Jan. 20, 2025, but Jan. 6, 2021, or what document was
“If, left
by the toilet at Mar-a-Lago, if it’s a referendum on that, we are going to lose.”

DeSantis has escalated his attacks against the former president as his poll numbers have lagged, despite
his second-place standing in the Republican primary.

DeSantis has escalated his attacks against the former president, as his poll numbers have continued to lag despite his
second-place standing in the Republican primary.
Getty Images

Trump is leading the field of GOP presidential hopefuls with 53.7% support nationwide, compared with
15.7% who support DeSantis, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.

DeSantis also pushed back against criticism of new history curriculum in Florida that Vice President
Kamala Harris and even some Republican candidates have claimed wrongly teaches there were benefits
to slavery.

“What slavery was really about was separating families, about mutilating humans and even raping their
wives. It was just devastating,” 2024 GOP presidential hopeful Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) said in July when
asked about the Florida curriculum. “So I would hope that every person in our country — and certainly
running for president — would appreciate that.”

“Don’t take that side of Kamala Harris against the state of Florida. Don’t indulge those lies,” DeSantis responded when
asked about Scott’s attacks.
NBC News

“Don’t take that side of Kamala Harris against the state of Florida. Don’t indulge those lies,” DeSantis
responded when asked about Scott’s attacks.

Some “developed skills in spite of slavery, not because of slavery,” DeSantis told Burns when asked about
the curriculum. “It was them showing resourcefulness and then using those skills once slavery ended.”

85 What do you think? Post a comment.

“We’ve been involved in education, not indoctrination,” he said. “Those standards were not political at all.
The Legislature didn’t dictate any of that. The governor’s office didn’t dictate anything of that.”

Dr. William Allen, a member of the working group that created the curriculum and a former chairman of the
US Commission on Civil Rights, has also hit back at the vice president and others for making false claims
about the lessons .

Filed under 2024 presidential election donald trump joe biden nbc news Ron DeSantis
8/7/23

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Ann
54 minutes ago
A softball question. The question should have been “Is it possible that President Trump lost the
residential election due to interference and/or election fraud?” When he answers that
I’ll take notice.

Reply 26 Share
4 replies

Michael Cole
26 minutes ago
First, the question is was Trumps claim at the time reasonable (and it was) second, Joe didn't
et 81 million votes. Desantis is part of the Uniparty and the problem. I'll never vote for him.
he could have said prosecuting political opponents is wrong and he opposes it
But he...
See more
Reply 10 Share
1 reply

Living In Clown World

50 minutes ago
Wow. Crazy.. because instead of showing real concern about the interference with the election
f 2020, he bashes Trump.

I'll never vote for him.

Reply 33 Share
2 replies

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