DeSantis swipes at Trump's Civil War comments, says he won't drop out and endorse

In a new interview with ABC News, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis swiped at former President Donald Trump's suggestion that an end to the Civil War could have been negotiated with slave-holding states.

DeSantis also gave his firmest answer yet that he's staying in the 2024 race — and not planning a Trump endorsement — regardless of whether he wins or loses the Iowa caucuses next week, having failed to catch Trump in polling.

Speaking with ABC's Rachel Scott while campaigning in Grimes, Iowa, on Sunday, DeSantis was asked what he thought about Trump's new comments on the Civil War as a Republican leader himself in the party of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln, as president, fought against the Confederacy to preserve the country that had fractured because southern states wanted to continue practicing slavery.

«I don't even know what he's talking about,» DeSantis told Scott of Trump's remarks. «I mean, Lincoln did what he had to do. He ended up ushering in the abolition of slavery and he saved the Union. That's a huge victory for the Republican Party.»

«So, I don't know. Relitigating that doesn't make much sense to me,» DeSantis added.

He went on take a dig at Trump for his long and at times rambling speeches.

Trump, appearing in Newton, Iowa, for a campaign event on Saturday, said this about the Civil War: «If you take a look, I mean the wars, I don't know what it is — the Civil War was so fascinating. So horrible, was so horrible, but so fascinating.»

«And it was, I don't know, it was just different, I just find it — I'm so attracted to seeing it, so many mistakes were made,» he said.

Then, he indicated that the Civil War could have been avoided through negotiation.

«See there was something I think could've been negotiated to be honest with you.