DeSantis suggests Trump is 'adopting Joe Biden's basement strategy'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a GOP candidate for president in 2024, on Sunday went after former President Trump for not showing up to the GOP debates, suggesting Trump was “adopting Joe Biden’s basement strategy.”

“With all due respect to Donald Trump, we're not going to beat the Democrats by adopting Joe Biden's basement strategy,” DeSantis said in an interview on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

Republicans, led by Trump, frequently attacked then-presidential candidate Joe Biden for not holding in-person campaign events during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You can't just be missing in action. You got to show up, you got to earn people's votes. And if you're not willing to do that, voters will take notice as we get closer to these contests,” he continued.

DeSantis made other provocative references to Trump’s age, saying, “We need somebody that can serve two terms.”

DeSantis’s remarks come as Trump dominates in GOP primary polls.

While DeSantis initially was widely seen as a strong rival to Trump, his favorability in national polls has dropped since he launched his campaign months ago and so far he has not been able to gain on Trump.

Asked what his path is to victory, DeSantis suggested Trump was not showing up for voters on the campaign trail. 

“You show up. You make the case. You don't mail it in, you don't go missing in action. You meet voters on the ground in the early states, Iowa, New Hampshire in particular, and tell them about the future of the country and why you're the best candidate,” DeSantis said.

“And so I think that I'll be the guy. I've been the most dependable leader the Republican Party's had in recent years. I've delivered. I haven't just talked, and that's what we need in Washington the time for excuses is over.”