Trump's ex-defense secretary: Trump 'incapable' of winning elections, DeSantis is 'top of list'

Donald Trump's former Pentagon chief slammed his 2024 announcement at Mar-a-Lago 'uninspiring' and 'full of falsehoods' on Wednesday morning and called on Republicans to follow a new leader.  

Ex-Defense Secretary Mark Esper joined the growing list of Republicans who are holding the former president responsible for the GOP's poor performance in the midterms, claiming he's 'incapable' of winning elections during an interview on CNN.

Still more damning for Trump, Esper suggested the ex-president's top GOP rival is the actual 'frontrunner' for the Republican nomination.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis 'is at the top of the list right now,' the ex-Defense head said. 'He did a great job in Florida.' 

After losing the Senate and barely clinging onto the House in the November 8 races, the party's post mortem has been full of finger-pointing as separate factions hold each other responsible for the lack of a promised 'red wave.' 

Establishment figures blamed Trump for endorsing fringe-right candidates in GOP primaries who parroted his 2020 election fraud claims - and who ultimately lost to more moderate opponents in the general race.

'The election last week is an example that Donald Trump is incapable of winning elections,' Esper said. 'He's done more to help the Democrats than the Republicans.' 

'There's no reason we shouldn't have a bigger margin in the House and we should have taken the Senate - and yet we haven't. And so I think if you want to govern with conservative principles, you have to win elections, and Donald Trump can't win elections.'

Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Donald Trump is 'unfit for office' and 'dishonest' among other scathing criticisms in reaction to the ex-president's 2024 bid

By the time Trump took the stage in Mar-a-Lago's opulent ballroom at 9pm on Tuesday night, he and his allies left no doubt what his advertised 'special announcement' would be.'

He spoke for a little more than an hour, outlining policy goals for his campaign but largely sticking to anecdotes and slogans he's leaned on during the 'Make America Great Again' rallies he's held around the country since leaving office.

'I thought his remarks were very subdued and uninspiring,' Esper said on Wednesday. 

Esper said point-blank that Trump is 'unfit for office.'

'He puts himself before country,' the ex-Army officer explained. 'To me that's shortcoming number one, and then I believe he has integrity and character issues as well.' 

'I don't think he's an honest person. We saw the falsehoods that came out of his remarks last night...Americans need a leader they can trust.'

Trump announced he was running for president at his Mar-a-Lago retreat. He spoke for a little over an hour and outlined goals and told anecdotes that were not dissimilar from his recent rallies

Kimberly Guilfoyle, Jared Kushner, Eric Trump and Laura Trump listen as Trump outlines his vision for 2024

Trump left little room for doubt as to what his 'special announcement' was going to be by the time he took the stage on Tuesday night 

What Esper held as Trump administration accomplishments - border security and immigration, appointing conservative judges, rolling back industry regulations, and tax cuts - he said 'you can get all those things with a new generation of Republican leaders.'

'I think there are a number of candidates out there who continue to announce, you know, DeSantis obviously at the top,' Esper said when asked about who that generation could include.

In addition to DeSantis' own double-digit landslide victory to win re-election on Tuesday, Florida Republicans swept across the board - including flipping three blue House seats to red. 

He's also been credited for helping turn out the Sunshine State's Hispanic and Latino communities, who voted solidly Republican. DeSantis himself was the first GOP governor in two decades to flip reliably blue Miami-Dade County.

'He did a great job in Florida. He brought more Hispanics on board. He appears to me to be the frontrunner,' Esper said.

'But I think we need to have a primary to see who emerges and who can really, again, rally Republicans, grow the base, and really reach to Independents out there across the country.'