Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 44, considering a 2024 bid for president, was grilled by a reporter at a press conference in West Jerusalem on his overseas trip, some speculate before officially announcing for president. DeSantis is believed by many Republicans to be former President Donald Trump’s most competitive rival, in a field that shows no real competition for Trump in 2024. Only DeSantis is viewed as a formidable candidate, primarily because of his youth and popularity as Florida governor. Speaking at the Museum of Tolerance in West Jerusalem, DeSantis confirmed he worked as a Naval attorney at Guantanamo Bay. A former detainee said that DeSantis observed him being force fed on a hunger strike with a naso-gastric tube. “Do you honestly believe that it’s credible? It’s . . . 2006. I’m a junior officer, do you honestly think that they would’ve remembered me,” DeSantis told the reporter.
DeSantis made his overseas trip to burnish his foreign policy chops before announcing for president sometime in May. Allegations of torture and inhumane treatment were widely reported by the press in Guantanamo Bay, where the Pentagon kept a slew of terrorists plucked off the Afghan battlefield. Shortly after Sept. 11, 2001 former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney spent most of their time fighting terrorism, tracking down terrorists to prevent another Sept. 11, something that eemed entirely plausible. U.N. and International Committee of the Red Cross accused the Pentagon of torturing battlefield detainees, an alternative term used for prisoners of war. U.S. officials believed that stateless terrorists deserved the same treatment as prisoners of war. Bush and Cheney disagreed that incarcerated terrorists deserved prisoner-of-war status.
Former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Mansoor Adayfi, a Yemini citizen held in Guantanamo for 14 years, claimed that DeSantis witnessed his torture in captivity. Adayfi, a former terrorist and Guantanamo Bay detainee, said DeSantis observed his force-feeding with a naso-gastric tube. Whether the U.N. or some human rights group believes that torture went on a Guantanamo Bay, doesn’t mean the DeSantis witnessed it or sanctioned it. Yet the implication of the reporter’s question involved DeSantis observing torture, but somehow not admitting it. Whatever went on at Guantanamo Bay, DeSantis was not involved with the interrogation of battlefield detainees. Asking the question and getting rebuffed gets reported as DeSantis losing his cool. When it comes to DeSantis entering the 2024 race, there are plenty of liberals and conservatives that want him to fail.
When it comes to the GOP 2024 race, Trump remains frontrunner today because DeSantis has not entered the race formally. With former Vice President Mike Pence finishing his testimony before Special Counsel Jack Smith April 27, there are growing prospects that Trump could face another indictment, this time for his efforts on Jan. 6 to obstruct the Electoral College certification of the vote. Many of the Jan. 6 rioters said they were there to stop Pence from presiding over the Electoral College vote certification. Smith has testimony from election officials and private citizens about Trump’s former attorney John Eastman preparing alternative slates of electors, consistent with Trump’s claims of election fraud. For a reporter to cite the statement of a former Guantanamo Bay detainee shows how desperate the press is to discredit DeSantis only weeks before he announces for president.
One more indictment by Georgia election officials or the Special Counsel could spell doom for Trump’s 2024 bid. DeSantis stands to catapult to front-runner if Trump is knocked out the race. Getting closer to his announcement, DeSantis will be under the microscope for anyone looking to discredit his campaign. Democrats and Republicans know that DeSantis is the one Republican that could give 80-year-old President Joe Biden trouble in the 2024 election. Polls show that 51% of Democrats would like to see someone other than Biden run for president. DeSantis appeals to independents, especially younger voters looking for an option to Biden. So, when it comes to the Democrat-controlled press, they’re going to go after DeSantis with a vengeance, noting he the biggest GOP threat to Biden. Republicans too look to find some way to discredit DeSantis before he announces for president.
DeSantis has a lot of buzz around his candidacy because he’s the most likely GOP candidate to beat Biden in 2024. Trump finds himself in legal quicksand with one more indictment doing in his 2024 bid. However DeSantis reacted to a reporter questioning him about Guantanamo Bay, it shows that the media will be gunning for him from now until the end of the 2024 campaign. When you consider DeSantis credentials as Florida governor, a former Congressman, Yale undergraduate and Harvard law pedigree, the field knows he’s the best qualified for president. Asking questions about DeSantis’ role in Guantanamo Bay enhanced interrogation techniques shows that media looks for anything to discredit his 2024 campaign. Serving as a junior Naval attorney, DeSantis had no role in approving or implementing enhanced interrogation techniques, contrary to statements by a former Gunatanamo Bay detainee.
About the Author .
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
