Trump jokes he’ll fire DeSantis if he loses Florida. ‘I’ll find a way.’

OCALA — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is famously chummy with President Donald Trump.

He’s also a staunch political ally of the president. DeSantis has been to the Oval Office, frequently mentions his phone calls with the president and on Friday joined him for another campaign swing to rallies in Fort Myers and Ocala.

The governor introduced the president on stage at Ocala International Airport. Then Trump got some laughs at DeSantis’ expense from the crowd — especially the line where Trump threatened to figure out a way to fire Florida’s governor should the president lose the Sunshine State on Election Day.

“You know if we don’t win it, I’m blaming the governor,” Trump said. "I’ll fire him somehow. I’m going to fire him. I will find a way.”

Trump also recalled the time when DeSantis, then a relatively unknown congressman from south of Jacksonville, asked the president to support his 2018 bid for governor.

As Trump tells it, he had to be convinced to support the candidate, and then be became DeSantis' savior:

“You know he came to me and said ‘Sir, I’d like to run for governor,’ ” Trump said of DeSantis.

“I said, ‘Well I can understand that but, you’ve got a long way to go.’ ”

“He said ‘I’d like your endorsement, can we have your endorsement?’ ”

“I said, ‘Look Ron, let’s think about it,' " Trump said, before cutting himself off. “Anyway. You know, he’s a great guy. Harvard, Yale, smart. I said ‘Alright Ron, I’m going to endorse you, who the hell knows what’s going to happen.’ "

“Boom,” Trump said. "He went from 3 to 71 (points) in one day.”

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