DeSantis on Trump Nicknames: 'You can call me whatever you want'

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) was interviewed by Piers Morgan and spoke on a plethora of issues such as his handling of the pandemic, President Joe Biden (D), and of course, his possible Republican nominee opponent, former President Donald Trump (R).

Until now, Gov. DeSantis has not responded to any of name calling from President Trump until now.

While less direct compared to Trump’s “Ron DeSanctimonious” comment, the Florida Governor was more willing to address the 45^th President and his alleged affair with Stormy Daniels when he stated, “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair.”

Despite not officially declaring his candidacy, Gov. DeSantis believes that if he were to run, he would rely on his less boisterous style compared to Trump and hopefully sway Independents like he did in his gubernatorial election.

“Well I think there’s a few things. The approach to COVID was different. I would have fired somebody like Fauci. I think he got way too big for his britches, and I think he did a lot of damage...I also think just in terms of my approach to leadership, I get personnel in the Government who have the agenda of the people and share our agenda. You bring your own agenda in you’re gone. We’re just not gonna have that. So, the way we run the Government I think is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board and I think that’s something that’s very important," stated DeSantis.

But as for the nicknames, to the Governor it’s just “background noise.”

“I don’t know how to spell the sanctimonious one. I don’t really know what it means, but I kinda like it, it’s long, it’s got a lot of vowels…I mean you can call me whatever you want, just as long as you also call me a winner because that’s what we’ve been able to do in Florida, is put a lot of points on the board and really take this State to the next level,” stated DeSantis.

He would go on to mention that he currently (and in the future) doesn’t plan to waste his time getting in shouting matches on Twitter when he could be “knocking out victories” for his constituents: the people of Florida.

“It’s not important for me to be fighting with people on social media. It’s not accomplishing anything for the people I represent. So, we really just focus on knocking out victories, day after day, and if I got involved in all the under tow I would not be able to be an effective Governor. So, I don’t think it’s something that makes sense for me,” DeSantis told Piers Morgan.

Morgan would go on to remind DeSantis of the story of Frankenstein: a man creates a monster in hopes of creating something great that winds up killing him in the end.

After attempting to create the parallel between DeSantis and Trump, the Florida Governor stated that “at the end of the day, I’m a vessel for the aspirations of the people I represent. It’s not about me.”

He would also say that “I’m not up against anybody quite yet.”

This interview has been the closest that Governor Ron DeSantis has come to announcing whether or not if he intends to run.

Quotations from this interview were pulled from Piers Morgan's article in the New York Post.