DeSantis laughs off question about his 2024 presidential plans: 'Wouldn't you like to know'

close

Video

Biden's team fears DeSantis, is desperate to go up against Trump in 2024: Clay Travis

Bill Hemmer and Clay Travis join 'Fox News Sunday' to discuss the Chinese spy flight fiasco, potential 2024 candidates and calls for age limits on social media.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis laughed and offered a blunt response Tuesday when he was asked whether he would be "following suit" of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and announcing a run for president in 2024.

The question was posed to DeSantis during a news conference from the Sunshine State's most populous city at Kenworth of Jacksonville, Inc., a truck dealership.

"Nikki Haley announced her presidential run today. Do you plan on following suit," one reporter asked DeSantis.

"Wouldn't you like to know," DeSantis responded, laughing as he looked out among those in attendance for the event.

TRUMP DENIES SPENDING TIME COMING UP WITH DESANTIS NICKNAME AFTER NEW YORK TIMES REPORTS ‘MEATBALL RON’ DIG

"Wouldn't you like to know," DeSantis responded to a question Tuesday on whether he would run for president in 2024. (Al Diaz/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

DeSantis, a former congressman who has witnessed widespread support among conservatives in both Florida and nationally, has yet to declare his 2024 intentions.

Long speculated to enter the 2024 presidential race, DeSantis was re-elected to serve as the governor of Florida by 20 percentage points in November and won the vote in Miami-Dade County.

While it remains unclear whether he will make a run for the White House, DeSantis, who has routinely dismissed talk of a 2024 run, has dropped plenty of hints that he may be considering a presidential bid since his re-election victory speech last year.

Sources in DeSantis’ wider political orbit say any presidential campaign launch wouldn’t occur until late spring or early summer, after the end of Florida’s current legislative session. But Republican sources confirm to Fox News that the governor’s political team has already started reaching out and identifying operatives for a potential White House run.

TRUMP'S IN, HALEY'S GETTING IN – HOW ABOUT DESANTIS? PENCE? OTHERS? HOW LARGE A GOP 2024 FIELD WILL WE SEE?

Earlier this month, Trump referred to DeSantis as a "RINO GLOBALIST" and took issue with his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Former President Donald Trump, who announced last November that he would be making a third run for the White House, hasn't taken kindly to speculation that DeSantis might enter the race for president next year. In recent months, Trump has targeted DeSantis in a number of comments and posts made to Truth Social, his social media app.

Earlier this month, Trump referred to DeSantis as a "RINO GLOBALIST" and took issue with his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

"The real Ron is a RINO GLOBALIST, who closed quickly down Florida and even its beaches. Loved the Vaccines and wasted big money on ‘Testing.’ How quickly people forget!," Trump claimed in a post to Truth Social.

DeSantis waves to the crowd during an election night watch party at the Convention Center in Tampa on November 8, 2022. (GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

While Trump remains the overall front-runner in the early 2024 GOP nomination polls, DeSantis has eclipsed him in some surveys.

A recent poll from Monmouth University suggests DeSantis would top Trump 53%-40% in a head-to-head match up for the nomination.

Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this article.