'Of course he lost': Ron DeSantis rejects Trump's 2020 election claims

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis connected Sunday rejected Donald Trump's assertion that helium was the existent victor of the 2020 statesmanlike predetermination successful his astir forceful comments to day connected the matter.

"Whoever puts their manus connected the Bible connected Jan. 20 each 4 years is the winner," DeSantis told NBC News analogous Dasha Burns successful his archetypal broadcast web interrogation since helium launched his statesmanlike campaign.

DeSantis continued to sermon each the ways helium believed the erstwhile statesmanlike predetermination was not perfect. But pressed further, helium intelligibly stated that Trump lost.

"But respectfully, you did not intelligibly reply that question," Burns said. "And if you can't springiness a 'yes' oregon 'no' connected whether oregon not helium mislaid —"

"No, of people helium lost," DeSantis said, adding, "Joe Biden's the president."

Tune successful for the interrogation Monday on "TODAY" and "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt." Additional segments volition aerial passim the time connected MSNBC and NBC News NOW. The afloat interrogation volition besides beryllium disposable on NBCNews.com.

DeSantis' comments travel conscionable days aft Trump pleaded not guilty to charges that helium broke the instrumentality by trying to overturn the 2020 election.

And astatine a run halt successful Iowa connected Friday, DeSantis besides powerfully dismissed theories that the predetermination was stolen, saying they "did not beryllium to beryllium true."

Still, DeSantis made definite to constituent retired successful Sunday's interrogation that helium saw a fig of problems with the 2020 election, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's grants for predetermination administration, the wide availability of mail-in ballots, authorities laws that let 3rd parties to cod and instrumentality voters' ballots, and however societal media outlets de-emphasized a communicative about the laptop of President Joe Biden's lad Hunter Biden.

"I deliberation what radical successful the media and elsewhere, they privation to enactment similar someway this was conscionable similar the cleanable election. ... I don't deliberation it was a good-run election," DeSantis said. "But I besides deliberation Republicans didn't combat back. You've got to combat backmost erstwhile that is happening."

But DeSantis besides took purpose astatine Trump, saying helium acceptable the signifier for his ain nonaccomplishment by signing the CARES Act, a $2.2 trillion economical stimulus measure successful effect to the Covid-19 crisis. About $400 million of that wealth went to assistance states with predetermination medication — and galore states made voting by message more widely disposable during the pandemic.

"But here's the contented that I deliberation is important for Republican voters to deliberation about: Why did we person each those message votes? Because of Trump turned the authorities implicit to Fauci," DeSantis said, referring to Dr. Anthony Fauci, a person of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. "They embraced lockdowns. They did the CARES Act, which funded mail-in ballots crossed the country."

Florida has agelong allowed anyone who wants to vote by mail to bash so, including successful the 2020 election.

Trump has been a vocal hostile of mail-in voting. For the 2024 election, the Republican National Committee has been attempting a "change of culture" to get GOP voters to clasp aboriginal voting, including voting by mail, aft years of Trump's demonizing the practice.

DeSantis refused to thin into attacking Trump implicit his ineligible troubles, insisting that "it's not truly astir Donald Trump" and emphasizing his absorption to a justness strategy that "is not just if it is weaponized."

He besides said focusing excessively overmuch connected Trump and his indictments is simply a problematic pathway for the GOP.

"If the predetermination is simply a referendum connected Joe Biden's policies and the failures that we've seen and we are presenting a affirmative imaginativeness for the future, we volition triumph the presidency and we volition person a accidental to crook the state around," DeSantis said.

"If, connected the different hand, the predetermination is not astir Jan. 20, 2025, but Jan. 6, 2021, oregon what papers was near by the toilet astatine Mar-a-Lago, if it's a referendum connected that, we are going to lose."

DeSantis besides sought to clarify his remarks astir the caller Florida standards astir teaching Black past to mediate schoolers — peculiarly a wide criticized proviso that children beryllium instructed that enslaved radical developed "skills" that could beryllium utilized for their "personal benefit."

DeSantis has tried to region himself a spot from the standards, having said past month: "I didn't bash it. I wasn't involved."

But helium has besides defended the standards, saying they were "probably going to amusement immoderate of the folks," referring to enslaved people, "that eventually parlayed, you know, being a blacksmith into doing things aboriginal successful life."

Asked astir the taxable Sunday, DeSantis said: "So that means they developed skills successful spite of slavery, not due to the fact that of slavery. It was them showing resourcefulness and past utilizing those skills erstwhile slavery ended."

"We've been progressive successful education, not indoctrination," helium added. "Those standards were not governmental astatine all. The Legislature didn't dictate immoderate of that. Governor's bureau didn't dictate thing of that."

DeSantis has faced important disapproval implicit the standards, including from 4 of the 5 Black Republicans successful Congress. All 4 who person spoken retired person endorsed Trump but Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is moving for president himself.

Scott, the lone Black Republican successful the Senate, said past month: "What slavery was truly astir was separating families, astir mutilating humans and adjacent raping their wives. It was conscionable devastating. So I would anticipation that each idiosyncratic successful our state — and surely moving for president — would admit that."

Confronted with Scott's punctuation successful the interrogation Sunday, DeSantis replied: "Don't instrumentality that broadside of Kamala Harris against the authorities of Florida. Don't indulge those lies."

DeSantis continued to enactment that a radical of Black scholars developed the standards. But arsenic NBC News has reported, a bulk of the members of the enactment group did not support the astir arguable elements that were yet released.

One of the issues connected which DeSantis has been moving to the close of Trump is immigration. In precocious June, helium said helium supported utilizing "deadly force" against migrants coming into the U.S. who were suspected of smuggling drugs.

"You're already connected U.S. ungraded erstwhile ... you get done the wall," helium told NBC News astatine the time. "You person hostile intent, due to the fact that you're evidently moving drugs. You perfectly tin usage deadly force."

DeSantis doubled down connected his connection Sunday, saying that "cartels are fundamentally overseas violent organizations" and that "lethal force" is justified.

Burns pressed DeSantis astir however helium would beryllium capable to "tell bully guys from atrocious guys, particularly erstwhile folks are crossing the borderline nether screen of night."

"Same mode a constabulary serviceman would know," DeSantis replied. "Same mode idiosyncratic operating successful Iraq would know. You know, these radical successful Iraq astatine the time, they each looked the same. You didn't cognize who had a weaponry strapped to them. So those guys person to marque judgments."

DeSantis served successful Iraq and is the only seasoned running in the 2024 race.