Florida Governor Ron DeSantis failed to impress British business chiefs at a high-profile London event Friday, in a tired performance described variously as “horrendous,” “low-wattage.” The Florida governor, expected to launch his bid next month to challenge Trump as the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential race, met with more than 50 representatives of major U.K. firms and business lobbying groups as a part of a four-country “trade mission” ending in London.
His trip was officially billed as an attempt to build Florida’s economic relationships with the U.K., Israel, South Korea and Japan, but it has been widely seen as an attempt by DeSantis to present himself as a statesman on the world stage.
For many of those present, however, the statesmanship was lacking. One U.K. business figure said DeSantis “looked bored” and “stared at his feet” as he met with titans of British industry in an event co-hosted by Lloyd’s of London. “His message wasn’t presidential,” they told POLITICO. “He was horrendous.”
A second business figure who was in the room said it was a “low-wattage” performance and that “nobody in the room was left thinking, this man’s going places.” They said: “It felt really a bit like we were watching a state-level politician. I wouldn’t be surprised if [people in attendance] came out thinking ‘that’s not the guy’.”
Curiously, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak avoided a planned meeting with the GOP governor. Instead, Sunak was at a Scottish Conservative Party conference Friday. DeSantis did have discussions with lower-level officials, but did not discuss the prospect of a state-level economic Memorandum of Understanding between the U.K. and Florida, despite Britain’s efforts to sign similar arrangements with other U.S. states. Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch and his team reportedly wanted to avoid talking about a Florida MOU as others are being prioritized instead.
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