Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley won't run for president in 2024, he told reporters Monday.
Asked about running next cycle, Hawley noted that he's "up for re-election in Missouri." When asked to clarify that he is not looking at a presidential bid himself, Hawley said: "That's correct."
Hawley, a one-term senator, had previously said he wouldn't run in 2024. But that hasn't put an end to the speculation, as his name is regularly mentioned as a potential presidential contender.
During the interview, he told reporters he wouldn't vote for Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell to lead Republicans in the Senate and called the midterm elections "a referendum on the Republican Party as we've known it since the 1990s."
And as former President Donald Trump sets the stage for a likely presidential bid, while some Republicans try to distance themselves from him in the wake of their underperformance in the midterms, Hawley tried to stay clear of that debate.
Asked about Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose big re-election victory has him seen as a top presidential contender, Hawley replied "I like a lot of what he's doing in Florida. And I think that we need to look at what he's doing and what succeeded.
"But I said a second ago: I like a lot of what President Trump did as president when he was in the White House. And so, I think we can learn from both of those things."
