DeSantis says unlike Trump, he would have fired Fauci

As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ official bid for the 2024 presidential election continues to loom, the Republican took a few shots at his expected opponent, former President Donald Trump, in an interview with Piers Morgan that aired later this week.

Morgan, host of Piers Morgan uncensoreda preview of the interview in a comment for the New York Post on Tuesday wrote that DeSantis had “finally taken the gloves off” on Trump. The two spoke at the Florida Governor’s mansion in Tallahassee and according to a tweet From Morgan after the interview, he “has a feeling that President Trump will be hitting Caps Lock on his phone keypad when he’s watching my DeSantis interview.”

Though DeSantis hasn’t officially announced his presidential campaign, Trump has wasted no time shooting at his one-time GOP ally since launching his reelection bid in November. Most recently, the Make American Great Again political action committee, which supports Trump, filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics last week alleging that DeSantis was running a “shadow presidential campaign.”

Trump also shot at “Ron DeSanctimonious” via his Truth Social account Monday, restoring the rumor that DeSantis partyed with underage girls when he was a high school teacher in Georgia.

Morgan wrote in his comment that he asked DeSantis to “cite specific differences between him and Trump,” about which the governor listed “a few things.”

“The approach to COVID was different,” DeSantis said. “I would have fired someone like Fauci. I think he got way too big for his pants and I think he did a lot of damage.”

“I also think that just in terms of my approach to leadership, I get people in government that have the people’s agenda and share our agenda,” DeSantis added, according to Morgan. “You bring your own agenda, you’re gone. We just won’t have that.”

Anthony Fauci was Trump’s top medical adviser on COVID-19 and often publicly contradicted the former president about his administration’s approach to the virus. While Fauci resigned from his leadership positions under President Joe Biden’s administration in December, he recently faced renewed criticism from some Republican lawmakers who accused him of trying to cover up a theory that the coronavirus originated in a mishap at a Chinese laboratory .

In the summer of 2021, DeSantis also took his own hits amid Fauci and the ongoing coronavirus restrictions, releasing merchandise that read “Don’t Fauci My Florida.”

Morgan’s prelude to his interview with DeSantis captured that Attention by Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., on Twitter Tuesday night, who wrote that DeSantis was “pathetically addressing the liberal media on orders from his RINO establishment owners to attack my father.”

The British host hit back on Trump Jr.’s tweet, however, he wrote: “Your father (send my best) ran to me for interviews dozens of times and you never called it pathetic…”

“and b) he’s been attacking DeSantis for months,” Morgan said. “Can’t Ron have a popback?”

🤣🤣 a) Your father (send him my best) has run to me for interviews dozens of times and you never called it pathetic…
and b) He’s been attacking DeSantis for months. Can’t Ron have a popback? https://t.co/rbCSxKHhYP

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 21, 2023

DeSantis also spoke to Morgan about not engaging in any of Trump’s “regular attempts to provoke him” and has no plans to do so.

“To me, it’s just background noise,” DeSantis said. “I don’t care about fighting with people on social media. It’s no good for the people I represent. So we’re really just focused on getting wins day in and day out, and if I got into the whole pull, I wouldn’t be able to be an effective governor. So I don’t think it makes sense for me.”

news week emailed Trump’s press team for comment.