Mitt Romney called Ron DeSantis more dangerous than Trump.
That was during Covid – when DeSantis was fighting mask mandates while Romney was supporting them.
But every Republican lost on Tuesday except the one they called an authoritarian.
The Night the Red Wall Came Down
You need to understand how bad it was everywhere else.
Texas – a state Donald Trump won by double digits two years ago – flipped blue for the first time since 1994.
Democrats swept the governor's race, the Senate seat, and every major statewide office.
Kansas went blue.
Iowa went blue.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2118165139606163485?a=E9BzgEKlaSBA3FZdRG8&s=20
Democrats seized both chambers of Congress with historic margins not seen in half a century.
Greg Abbott lost. Ken Paxton lost.
The whole thing collapsed.
But Florida didn't.
DeSantis walked out Wednesday morning and said exactly what everyone else was too scared to say.
"Close to an extinction-level event for Republicans in many parts of the country," he told reporters.
Of the ten largest states in America, only one will have Republican control after January.
One.
He named Texas directly.
"Over my lifetime, Texas has been the crown jewel of Republican politics. Not only did they lose a highly publicized Senate race, they lost everything. The governor, attorney general, all the other statewide," he said.
The man who spent four years getting called an authoritarian just became the only Republican governor standing.
Romney Called It – He Just Called It Backwards
The same week DeSantis started calling donors about 2028, Mitt Romney weighed in on the midterm disaster.
Romney blamed the losses on "bad policy, bad character."
DeSantis responded that he wished he had never voted for Romney in 2012.
"In hindsight I wish I had left it blank. Total squish," he said.
Then he explained the whole thing.
"Romney attacked me during Covid as an 'authoritarian' who was 'more dangerous than Trump,'" DeSantis wrote. "This was during the time when I used my power to protect people from the largest incursion against liberty in our lifetime – restrictions and mandates that Romney supported."
Romney backed the lockdowns.
https://twitter.com/nypost/status/2118125154626584751?a=NXmcw389fpUybNgKSf8&s=20
Romney backed the mandates.
The ones that shut your church, closed your grandchildren's schools, and killed small businesses that took generations to build.
DeSantis fought every single one.
The scoreboard doesn't lie.
DeSantis won reelection in 2022 by 19 points.
Florida's economy roared while locked-down states withered.
Florida's voter registration swung from more than a million Democrats in the hole to 1.4 million Republicans ahead.
"Blocking local governments from imposing covid mandates/restrictions is not being an 'authoritarian,'" DeSantis fired back. "It is liberating people from government overreach."
Romney's version of conservatism – polished, deferential, desperate for approval from people who will never vote Republican – just got the entire GOP wiped off the map Tuesday night.
America just watched him get proven right in real time.
The 2028 Question Nobody Else Can Answer
Three people briefed on DeSantis' plans told the Washington Post he's running.
His Restore Our Nation PAC already has $5.7 million cash on hand.
The donor network that powered the 2024 run is warming back up.
Longtime Republican donor Dan Eberhart put it plainly: "Florida's walls not being breached by the blue wave gives DeSantis more credibility than nearly anyone in the opening days of the 2028 primary."
Here's the question every other Republican who wants to run in 2028 has to answer: where were you Tuesday night?
JD Vance is the vice president of a party that just surrendered Texas.
https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/2119206794664837445?a=NNtbngB0Z4U2EzMm2HI&s=20
Marco Rubio serves an administration whose approval rating drove one of the worst Republican midterms in a century.
Every other governor eyeing the White House watched their state go purple or disappear entirely.
DeSantis doesn't have to answer anything.
He held a mega-state against the most powerful Democratic wave since Watergate – and he did it the same way he's done everything.
He didn't ask permission.
He didn't soften his message for the critics.
He didn't listen to the Romneys of the world telling him to be less confrontational.
He just won.
The 2028 primary is officially open.
Only one Republican has a winning record to run on, and he's already making the calls.
The man they called an authoritarian is the last man standing.
Sources:
- Nancy Cook, "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis planning another White House run," The Washington Post, November 6, 2026.
- Kathianne Boniello, "Race to Replace Trump Officially Starts As Ron DeSantis Reportedly Explores 2028 Run," Mediaite, November 6, 2026.
- Jennifer Graham, "Ron DeSantis, dubbed the 'Republican winner' of the midterms, says he wishes he hadn't voted for Mitt Romney," Deseret News, November 6, 2026.
- Javier Manjarres, "Ron DeSantis Gears up for 2028 Presidential Run," Floridian Press, May 11, 2026.
- Dan Eberhart, quoted in The Washington Post, November 6, 2026.
