PONCA, Okla. (AP) \u2014 Republican White House candidate\u00a0Ron DeSantis\u00a0plowed ahead Saturday with efforts to portray himself as his party\u2019s staunchest national conservative leader, even as the 2024 GOP race has been disrupted by drama surrounding the 37-count felony federal indictment\u00a0for mishandling classified documents\u00a0against former President\u00a0Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Florida governor sought to project strength amid the turmoil by campaigning in Oklahoma \u2014 one of more than a dozen states scheduled to hold its Republican primary on Super Tuesday, weeks after the earliest states vote. He also notched the endorsement of the state\u2019s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, the first governor to formally announce his support for DeSantis, while appearing at a rally in the state\u2019s second-largest city of Tulsa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DeSantis has argued that his record in Florida has put him at the cutting edge of the next generation of Republicans. But Saturday, before a sweat-soaked audience fanning themselves with yard signs, DeSantis introduced a loftier theme, asking Americans to embrace his call for new national leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo our duty is to preserve what the founders of the country called the sacred fire of liberty,\u201d said the governor, who wore jeans, cowboy boots and a red-and-blue checked shirt. He ticked through the Declaration of Independence, the battle of Gettysburg and the Normandy invasion during World War II as moments Americans rallied during times of crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur generation now is called upon to carry this torch. It\u2019s not a responsibility we should shy away from,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cIt\u2019s a responsibility we should welcome. We have to stand firm for the truth, and we have to remain resolute in the defense of core American and enduring principles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, he planned to stop at a rodeo in Ponca, about 75 miles northwest of Tulsa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The legal drama presents both an opportunity and challenge for DeSantis and other Trump campaign rivals. Multiple criminal cases \u2014 while initially lifting Trump\u2019s polling numbers and fundraising efforts \u2014 could ultimately undermine the former president as the best general election candidate against President\u00a0Joe Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But direct criticism of Trump over the criminal indictment might alienate the former president\u2019s core supporters, which his rivals are out to convert. That is especially true for DeSantis, who is continuing to criticize Trump while attempting to position himself as the field\u2019s most conservative choice, but also has opted to slam the case against Trump rather than overtly trying to capitalize from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the things that flows from that is this increasing weaponization of these federal agencies against people they don\u2019t like,\u201d DeSantis said. He didn\u2019t mention Trump or the indictment specifically but added, \u201cOn day one you\u2019ll have a new director of the FBI. We\u2019re going to use our authority to hold people accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On policy matters, DeSantis has gradually ramped up criticism of Trump, though not directly by name, for rejecting the idea of changes to Social Security and Medicare spending. The former president has rejected the idea of cuts to the programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Florida governor also has suggested that Trump is less-than-devout in his opposition to abortion rights, in light of his criticism as \u201charsh\u201d of DeSantis for signing a ban on most abortions before six weeks of pregnancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump himself was campaigning Saturday at the Georgia Republican Party convention,\u00a0where he called the case against him \u201cridiculous\u201d and \u201cbaseless.\u201d\u00a0He was addressing the North Carolina Republican convention later Saturday but also has urged his supporters to rally ahead of a Tuesday court appearance in South Florida \u2014 ensuring that his case is likely to garner more attention than the 2024 GOP primary for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Justice Department case adds to deepening legal jeopardy for Trump, who has already been\u00a0indicted in New York\u00a0and faces\u00a0additional investigations in Washington and Atlanta\u00a0that also could lead to more criminal charges. But among the various investigations he has faced, legal experts \u2014 as well as Trump\u2019s own aides \u2014 had long seen the Mar-a-Lago probe as the most perilous legal threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stitt\u2019s endorsement, meanwhile, is probably unlikely to sway many voters nationally. But it is important for projecting strength far from DeSantis\u2019 home state, as does stopping in Oklahoma so early in the campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The governor opened his campaign last month by visiting Iowa, then traveled to New Hampshire and South Carolina, all states that vote early on the primary calendar and have absorbed the majority of the candidates\u2019 attention. Yet the early Oklahoma stop lets DeSantis show he plans to be in the race for the entire primary season, not just the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, though he\u2019s the governor of Florida \u2014 known more for its beaches and theme parks than calf-roping or bull riding \u2014 DeSantis\u2019 later stop in Ponca wasn\u2019t, as they say, his first rodeo. He was making that appearance together with his wife, Casey, who was runner-up in the NCAA equestrian national championships at College of Charleston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In March, before formally entering the presidential race, DeSantis skipped the Conservative Political Action Conference to instead address a Republican Party dinner in Houston \u2014 but not before hitting the rodeo there with his family. Casey DeSantis and the couple\u2019s two young children rode horses then, though the governor himself did not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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