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'It's unfortunate': Gov. DeSantis says Trump's loss could negatively impact Florida

Posted at 12:33 PM, Dec 16, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-16 12:33:36-05

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that President-elect Joe Biden's win of the Electoral College could negatively impact Florida.

The Florida governor told reporters that Trump's loss was "unfortunate" and hinted his loss could have implications on the Sunshine State's ability to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The president has been one hell of an ally for this state. I can tell you that,” he said after a state Cabinet meeting. “It’s funny, because these hospitals, we’ve really supported them. If they needed something, we got it to them. I was like, ‘Well, I may not be a phone call away from getting everything done soon.' So, it’s unfortunate, I think, for Florida.”

In his comments, DeSantis also declined to publicly acknowledge Joe Biden as the president-elect.

“It’s not for me to do,” DeSantis said. “Here’s what I would say. We did our thing in Florida and the Electoral College voted. What’s going to happen is going to happen. I can tell you that I think a lot of the frustration for folks that supported the president was that we were four years with people not accepting him.”

He also called out Hillary Clinton's actions following her loss to President Trump in 2016.

"I mean, Hillary [Clinton] the last week of the election was saying [Vladimir] Putin stole it, and I just think that that’s left a lot of people really frustrated with how it’s going to go.”

DeSantis comments come after the state's 29 electors cast ballots for Trump on Monday.