Ron DeSantis says he won't deign to be Trump's running mate because the 'No. 2 guy' doesn't 'really have any authority'

• Ron DeSantis said on Tuesday that he won't consider being Donald Trump's VP pick for 2024.
• The role "doesn't really have any authority," and he'd rather be governor than a VP, he said.
• Speaking on conservative podcast "Wisconsin Right Now," he said he isn't a "number two guy."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Tuesday that he doesn't plan to run as former President Donald Trump's vice president in 2024, even if he's offered the spot.

He added that he'd prefer to be a governor over becoming vice president, and described the position as one that "doesn't really have any authority."

"I'm not a number two guy," DeSantis told the conservative podcast "Wisconsin Right Now."

"I think I'm a leader, governor of Florida, I've accomplished a lot. I think I could do more staying there than being VP, which doesn't really have any authority," he added.

When asked to name two people he might pick as a running mate, he declined, saying it would be "a little bit presumptuous" at this stage in his campaign to name his pick.

Podcast host Jim Piwowarczyk also asked if DeSantis would consider Robert F Kennedy Jr. as his running mate, which the governor also ruled out, saying he'd prefer a conservative candidate. Kennedy is running for the Democratic presidential nomination.

DeSantis has, in recent months, begun criticizing Trump, his former mentor and ally, on issues like the latter's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

"It seems like he's running to the left, and I have always been somebody that's just been moored in conservative principles," the governor said in May, describing the former president as a "different guy" from when he ran in 2015 and 2016.

Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly slammed DeSantis since rumors surfaced in late 2022 that the Florida governor was aiming to claim the GOP nomination. He's called DeSantis insulting nicknames like "Ron DeSanctimonious" and "Ron DeSaster."

Neither Trump nor DeSantis have publicly said who they'll pick as their running mate if they clinch the GOP nomination. However, DeSantis told "Wisconsin Right Now" that he would back the Republican nominee, regardless of who wins.

A spokesperson for Trump's campaign dismissed DeSantis' comments on Tuesday, according to CNBC.

"Ron DeSantis isn't anybody's guy. He's not 'the guy.' He's just 'a guy.' Ron is just there, sullen and sad, because his numbers are as tiny as him," spokesperson Steven Cheung told the outlet.

Cheung and representatives for DeSantis did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.