(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday swiftly denied claims from anonymous sources that he is currently planning to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2028.
DeSantis, whose term as governor is set to end on Jan. 5, 2027, has long been viewed as a potential contender for the 2028 GOP primaries. Talk of a potential DeSantis 2028 bid spread on social media after The Washington Post reported, citing unnamed sources, that he had reached out to a political consultant about potentially working for his campaign.
The speculation gained momentum after Florida emerged as one of the GOP strongholds to narrowly withstand the so-called blue tsunami during this year’s midterm elections.
But DeSantis took to X to respond to the piece, saying The Post fabricated it “out of whole cloth.” He insisted that he had not reached out to anybody about “running for anything,” shutting down the story as “another pathetic attempt to garner clicks.”In another post, DeSantis urged his followers not to “let friends read the Washington Post.”
The Washington Post is fabricating this out of whole cloth. I have not reached out to anybody about running for anything. Just another pathetic attempt to garner clicks.
Using anonymous sources of course! pic.twitter.com/v9PtX6HgSj
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) November 6, 2026
Friends don’t let friends read the Washington Post https://t.co/xuZqB3MDOH pic.twitter.com/bG5LOk0ztE
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) November 6, 2026
Separately, DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw suggested that The Post story may have originated with political consultants exploiting the governor’s “name to pretend to be important and impress their cronies in the DC media.”
All eyes have turned to the 2028 election after Democrats secured comfortable majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate in the 2026 midterms.
In Florida, however, voters continued to back Republicans in a series of statewide races, albeit by narrower margins than in previous years
First, Rep. Byron Donalds, a Republican, won the race to succeed DeSantis against former Democrat Rep. David Jolly.
Sen. Ashley Moody, also a Republican, won the special election for a full term against Democrat candidate Angie Nixon. DeSantis appointed Moody to the Senate after President Donald Trump tapped then-Sen. Marco Rubio to serve as secretary of state.
The only Democratic victories in Florida came in one state Senate race and 16 state House races. Republicans will continue to hold majorities in the state legislature.
