Outside of President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is arguably the most maligned-by-the-media Republican in the country.

Just over the last 10 or so months alone, DeSantis has been accused of being a “grandma killer” for choosing to run his state much differently than Democrat governors have during the pandemic by not locking Florida down, instead giving more leeway to cities and counties rather than the state to decide how to best manage the crisis at the local level.

He’s also been falsely accused by the media and other left-wing detractors of retaliating against his critics by firing them and using state law enforcement officers to do his dirty work.

Through it all, DeSantis has shown himself to have an almost unmatched ability to bring out the absolute worst in Democrats and reporters while simultaneously showcasing his deft ability at handling them while under extreme pressure.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson invited DeSantis on his program Tuesday night to talk about his latest media smackdown and to give his thoughts on the mainstream media’s inarguably biased coverage of how he’s handled the Wuhan virus crisis in his state from the beginning to just recently with the vaccine rollout.

As per the norm, DeSantis did not mince words. In the clip below, he told Carlson how he was “totally willing to wear the criticism as a badge of honor if it means that my state [is] a state in which every parent has a right to send their kid to in-person instruction, everybody has a right to work and a right to pursue their vocations, [and] every business has a right to operate”:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addresses his critics on Tucker:

"The number of times someone has come up to me with tears in their eyes saying 'if it wasn’t for you, my kid would not be in school and I would not have my job. Thank you.' That is why I’m in this job." pic.twitter.com/55DaggseB1

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 6, 2021

In the clip below, Carlson asked DeSantis if cities in his state have become like some in Democrat states that saw a summer filled with riots from BLM/Antifa “protesters.” DeSantis made clear his state would “not tolerate a Minneapolis-type situation.” He also talked about how some networks like CNN had an agenda and left-wing narratives to push and were “not trying to report facts anymore.” He and Carlson then joked about what his coverage would be like on CNN if his brother had a program on the network like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s brother Chris did:

Tucker Carlson asks Governor DeSantis:

"Do you think you’d get fair treatment from CNN if your brother had a prime time show on that channel?" pic.twitter.com/WFPuLnUcCP

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 6, 2021

Whether he’s trying to or not, DeSantis – like South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem – is doing a great job of countering media myths and elevating his profile ahead of 2024 as speculation begins as to what Republicans will step up to the plate and make their presidential intentions known at some point down the line.

Despite what happened last night in the Senate runoffs in Georgia and no matter what happens today as the joint session of Congress convenes, Republicans have some damned fine possibilities for 2024, and I’m already looking forward to when those battles start.

Related/Flashback: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Exposes the Left’s Inner Racist With New ‘Anti-Mob’ Legislation