Ron DeSantis due to release autobiography in February amid 2024 speculation

By Gabby Orr, CNN

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will release a book early next year amid speculation that he could be gearing up for a 2024 presidential campaign, CNN has learned.

According to a person familiar with the matter, the autobiography from the Republican governor is due to be released on February 28 and will be titled “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.” DeSantis’ popularity surged within the Republican Party during the Covid-19 pandemic as he charted a response in Florida that rejected lockdown restrictions and vaccine mandates. His landslide reelection victory earlier this month further cemented his status as a potentially serious competitor for the GOP presidential nomination.

The book is set to be published by Broadside Books, a conservative imprint of mega-publisher HarperCollins, and is currently listed on the publisher’s website. HarperCollins did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, which was first to report the forthcoming DeSantis book on Wednesday, HarperCollins said the book would give readers an inside look at DeSantis’ upbringing “in a working-class family, playing in the Little League World Series, working his way through Yale University and Harvard Law School, [and] volunteering for the Navy after 9/11 and serving in Iraq.”

Broadside vice president Eric Nelson told the outlet that “everyone can see Gov. Ron DeSantis is a gifted leader, and now people will discover he’s also a gifted writer. His book explains how he applies his sense of True North to life and leadership.”

The autobiography comes as several other potential 2024 Republican hopefuls have rolled out new books in recent months, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley. Pence’s book about his time in the White House, “So Help Me God,” published earlier this month, while Haley’s book chronicling lessons in leadership by “bold women” was released in October. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is also penning a memoir that is set to be published in January.

DeSantis has often touted his contrarian approach to the coronavirus pandemic, when he embraced a laissez faire approach in a push to protect Florida’s economy while other top Republicans oversaw school closures and business lockdowns. It’s a chapter in his political career he is expected to focus heavily on in his book, said the person familiar with the matter, and could also serve as a point of contrast between him and other Republican presidential contenders — including former President Donald Trump — if he does mount a bid for the White House in the coming months.

A DeSantis spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.