When it comes to the media, Ron DeSantis now appears to wish he could do it all over again.
The Florida governor expressed regret in a Thursday interview with Hugh Hewitt, a radio presenter, regarding his initial decision to exclude the majority of news outlets from his presidential campaign in favor of conservative platforms.
For the governor, who frequently accuses the mainstream media of prejudice against him, his admission constituted an out of the ordinary moment of introspection.
However, after placing second in Iowa DeSantis is struggling to sustain his presidential campaign. His strategy is now centered on making inroads in South Carolina. However in the mean time many polls have him struggling in New Hampshire in the meantime.
In his book “Dreams from Our Founding Fathers,” which examined the Constitution and federalist papers, DeSantis openly discussed his longstanding ire towards specific mainstream outlets. He alleged that the media possessed a liberal bias in his book, a viewpoint shared by many conservatives.
As a result of facing censure from news organizations for defying federal directives to close schools and businesses in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, his rapport with the media became especially strained.
Prior to the summer, DeSantis limited one-on-one interviews to only conservative publications during the early stages of his presidential campaign. However, he has now come to regret taking this approach.
“We had an opportunity, I think, to come out of the gate and do that and reach a much broader folk. Now, I’m everywhere. I mean, I’ll show up wherever.” DeSantis said.
“I’m the only one that’s not at this point running a basement campaign. Biden’s running a basement campaign. Trump won’t debate, won’t take questions from voters. And now, Haley won’t debate and won’t take questions from voters.” he continued.
Trump has shied away from every debate in recent months, whereas he has accepted every debate invitation and appeared on nearly every major network for town halls and one-on-one interviews. Additionally, Haley declined the current week’s scheduled debates in New Hampshire.
[READ MORE: DeSantis Slams Trump and Haley for Skipping Debate]
