A lively crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) intensely focused on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his calls to reject the “failed Republican establishment”. His words highlight the continuing fight over where the GOP is headed in the aftermath of the electoral defeat of former President Donald J. Trump.

DeSantis, depicting himself as a disciple of President Trump, commenced CPAC on Friday with an affirmation of Trump’s style of conservative populism depicted in our former President’s attacks on ‘open borders’, ‘foreign labor’ and ‘military adventurism’.

DeSantis openly opposed the ‘establishment Republicans’ and their challenge of Pres. Trump’s model for the party. “We cannot, we will not, go back to the days of the failed Republican establishment of yesteryear,” he continued. “We reject open borders and instead support American sovereignty and the American worker. Building a movement on amnesty and cheap foreign labor is like building a house on a field of quicksand.”

DeSantis’s opening words reflected the honor he has gained for his unwavering loyalty to President Trump during his tenure as governor. Some of his remarks hinted of interest to lead the GOP in a more significant way, possibly running in the 2024 presidential election. Touting his success leading the red state, “Florida’s leading on the issues that matter to conservatives,” DeSantis said. “We don’t spout hollow rhetoric. We take decisive action.”

Winning his first election in 2018 and facing reelection next year, DeSantis watched as his reputation soared among republicans during his stay in office as he modeled Trump’s dismissal of the coronavirus pandemic and public official’s demand for more restrictive, but unproven, policies. In his opening speech DeSantis touted his policies concerning the coronavirus pandemic while welcoming CPAC participants to “our oasis of freedom.”

“We look around in other parts of our country and in too many places we see schools closed, businesses shuttered and lives destroyed,” DeSantis said, adding that while many other states implemented strict lockdown procedures in the face of the pandemic, “Florida lifted people up.”

Having garnered praise from other conservatives for the steps he has taken in response to COVID-19, DeSantis has also watched as Florida experienced among the highest number of infections and deaths in the nation. He also felt a strong negative reaction for his threat to divert vaccines away from communities.

This criticism has had little effect on DeSantis’s hunger to build a presidential campaign. DeSantis was the leader in a poll, by previous Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio, among Florida Republican voters given the choice of a three-way matchup between DeSantis and Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Rick Scott in a survey. This survey showed DeSantis was preferred by 64% of subjects. In contrast, Rubio and Scott would have lost such an election with support of only 12% and 10%, respectively.