The Biden victory in November came as a huge shock to GOP voters who had been assured by Fox News that a Trump triumph was a sure thing. In red areas in many parts of the country, local officials, supported by law enforcement and backed by militias, announced that they would only cooperate with and take direction from Trump and his agents. One of these states in which this occurred was Florida.
DeSantis was put in a difficult position. On the one hand, he had ambitions to run for president in 2028; maintaining good relations with the base was of extreme importance to him. On the other hand, he knew he would lose all credibility with the respectable elements of the GOP if he sided openly with the insurrectionists against the legitimate government. What was he to do?
Predictably, he stalled and temporized. He talked somewhat equivocally about the legitimate grievances of the insurrectionists and called for a negotiated solution. In the end, the federal government took charge and put an end to the insurrection without his help. He naturally portrayed himself as a martyr in the battle against the deep state. The base lapped it up.