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Without naming Trump, DeSantis blasts the GOP's 'hugely dismal' midterm results

MIAMI — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis provided a candid assessment of Republicans' faults in the midterm

 elections on Tuesday, taking a not-so-subtle shot at former President Donald J. Trump not long before Mr Trump is anticipated to announce a third presidential bid.

When asked about Mr. Trump's planned announcement on Tuesday night, Mr. DeSantis told reporters at an event in Fort Walton Beach, "There were a lot, a lot of disappointments." "That's just the way it is. It was an extremely dismal and disappointing performance, especially given how unpopular Biden's policies are."

The prior president was not mentioned by the governor. But he seemed to enjoy juxtaposing the dismal showing by many of Mr. Trump's backed candidates last week with his own landslide re-election victory 

as well as Republican victories in Georgia, Ohio, and Texas

"Some of the others," he said, without identifying names or linking them to Mr. Trump, had fared poorly. "Even with Biden in the White House and the failures that we're seeing, these independent voters aren't voting for our candidates." That is an issue."

Mr. DeSantis, perhaps the most prominent early 2024 contender not named Trump, is scheduled to deliver a private keynote dinner address to Republican governors and donors gathered in Orlando for the Republican Governors Association conference on Tuesday night, shortly before Mr. Trump's announcement at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

When asked about the former president's objectives, Mr. DeSantis instead boasted about his own achievements.

"At the end of the day," he continued to applause, "I would just urge people to go check out the scoreboard from last Tuesday night."

His 19-point victory margin outpaced that of any of his Republican predecessors. Florida voters elected more Republican legislators than ever before, allowing him supermajorities with which to win future policy victories.

After Mr. DeSantis moved to gerrymander boundaries and redraw districts controlled by Black lawmakers, the state elected 20 Republicans to Congress, up from 16. Most of his candidates for local school boards, which are officially nonpartisan, were also elected.

"We were on offense," he explained, "and we didn't back down from major difficulties."

That appealed not only to Republican and independent voters, but also to Democrats.

He won Miami-Dade and, more importantly, Palm Beach Counties.

"We won Palm Beach County, which has not been won by a Republican candidate for governor in nearly 40 years," he remarked.

Unspoken: Mr. Trump resides there.

Mr. DeSantis closed by proposing many special legislative sessions to promote the kind of conservative initiatives that have earned him national attention.

"I believe we'll have a pretty robust agenda," he said, "and I believe people will be quite delighted with the additional points we'll be able to put up on the board."