Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is a stalwart believer that the best defense is a good offense — especially against reporters.
In an interview with Mark Levin that aired on Fox News, DeSantis said going "on offense" against journalists has proven politically beneficial.
"If you're not on offense, then you're basically a sitting duck and you let these people come and just take pot shots at you all the time," DeSantis said.
"It's hard for them to keep up with you when you're constantly doing new things and leading on different issues, and we've pretty much kept that pace going throughout my entire tenure as governor," he asserted.
DeSantis also declared his constituents appreciate his pugnacious approach with the press.
"People see you're out there, they see you're active, but it makes it more difficult for these narratives to take hold when they're actually coming to shoot at ya," he said.
The Hill, which highlighted the remarks Monday, noted the governor is making the rounds of various media outlets to promote his new book, "The Courage to Be Free: Florida's Blueprint for America's Revival," coming out Wednesday.
DeSantis is widely expected to take on former President Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
And like Trump, DeSantis has used the press as a foil, often criticizing coverage of him and Republicans more generally and granting interviews to conservative outlets sympathetic to his agenda and messaging, The Hill reported.
Last week, the governor's press team announced DeSantis would boycott media appearances on NBC News and MSNBC shows until one of the network's star reporters apologizes for a question she posed about the governor's education policies, The Hill reported.