Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed volunteer delegates in a closed press phone call, and he told them that 2028 is still wide open for him.
"Oh, I haven't ruled anything out. I mean, I think that, you know, we're still in this election cycle so it's presumptuous to say, you know, this or that. I think a lot happens in politics," DeSantis said.
"I heard from a lot of people on the ground in these early states that, you know, they thought I was so wonderful, such a great president, but they wanted to give Donald Trump one more shot and they would just support me in '28."
The Governor said the Primary battle ended up being an "incumbent race."
"Without Trump, I think we would have run away with it," DeSantis said, saying the polls showed "Trump and me and then everybody else is distant behind in terms of that."
DeSantis also said he had no interest in being Donald Trump's Vice President.
The Governor has said this before, but given Trump floated his name as a potential running mate on Fox News Tuesday, the new comments have more salience.
DeSantis also warned against Trump making a diversity pick for VP, saying he'd "heard that they're looking more in identity politics."
"I think that's a mistake. I think you should just focus on who the best person for the job would be and then do that accordingly."
DeSantis also trashed Trump's political team, alluding to people like Susie Wiles as people he had "fired" and found refuge in Trump World only to condemn him, saying their "nonsense" didn't resonate with voters and that reports of Trump animosity to DeSantis may be exaggerated.
"I'd be careful on some of these media reports. I think he's got people in his inner circle who were a part of our orbit years ago that we fired. And I think some of that is they just have an ax to grind. But ultimately it doesn't matter what some political operative thinks," he said.
He also said having "no path to win" led to his withdrawal from the race.
"After Iowa, you know, I was still campaigning because I didn't want to make any rash decisions. But, you know, you just have to look at where a lot of conservative voters are. And if I thought that I had a path to win that I would have kept fighting. But I didn't think that asking people to continue to dedicating their time and money, you know, if I didn't see that pathway just given how things had started to shake out," DeSantis said.
DeSantis discussed recent trips to Indiana and South Carolina to pursue term limits, suggesting further travels may happen to promote school choice, and noting that though he's Governor he has a less "significant bully pulpit" but is still willing to use it on red meat issues.
DeSantis said he and the family were "great" after the withdrawal, saying that his family was "clear eyed" about the campaign and the "pivot" after suspending the campaign, and calling himself "the most active Governor in the country."
He sounded like he missed the hurly burly of the campaign trail, saying that it's a "different beast" now that he's "off that treadmill."
"I travel around the state and of course I was in other states yesterday and so we do a lot," DeSantis said. "I mean, you're busy but compare that to a presidential campaign where from sun up to sun down, you're doing interviews, you're going to events, you're on a bus, you're preparing for debates or this or that. It is night and day."
Asked how they can support DeSantis in his future endeavors, the Governor promised to send out "updates about what we're involved in" and teased "ways where we can be a little more vocal on some stuff nationally."
"We're toying with some different ideas," DeSantis said, before suggesting there are ways he can "work together across different states" that have Republican Legislatures.
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