Ron DeSantis appeared to compare his own military service to Donald Trump’s conscientious objection when asked how he would handle insults to the former president.
Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday night, the Florida governor said such taunts pale in comparison to the hardships faced by military personnel — given that the lawmaker himself once served as the Navy’s advocate.
By comparison, Trump avoided being drafted into the Vietnam War by claiming he suffered from bone spurs, with DeSantis apparently keen to highlight the ex-president’s much-taunted excuse.
He told Fox he wasn’t worried about potential insults coming up on the campaign trail, saying: “If the sacrifice I have to make is people swearing at me, that pales in comparison to what so many people have done over the course of time.” history have done for me.” “I could live in a free country.”
Ron DeSantis appeared on Fox News Wednesday night and appeared to mock Donald Trump’s conscientious objection
DeSantis (left) served as a Navy attorney from 2004 to 2010: Trump dodged draft and secured a letter saying he had bone spurs
DeSantis responded when asked how he would react to cruel nicknames from nameless rivals, with Donald Trump already branding him “Meatball Ron” and “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
The Florida governor was a sophomore at Harvard Law School when he enlisted in the Navy in 2004.
After graduating, he was assigned to Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida as a prosecutor before being sent to Guantanamo shortly thereafter.
He spent at least six months at the Cuban base between March 2006 and January 2007, primarily as a prosecutor.
DeSantis was then deployed to Iraq, where he worked as an advisor to a US Navy SEAL commander operating in the Fallujah and Ramadi areas.
He left the Navy in 2010 after receiving at least ten awards and honors for his services and went straight into politics.
Meanwhile, in 1969, Trump secured four stays in his Vietnam War draft before eventually receiving a PT exemption for his bone spurs.
The daughters of the Queens podiatrist who diagnosed Trump told the New York Times that their father, who died in 2007, diagnosed bone spurs as a “favor” for his father, Fred Trump.
When questioned about the exemption in 2016, Trump said he “received a letter — a very strong letter” declaring him unfit for duty.
Trump poked fun at DeSantis’ campaign launch and released a video in which he called him a scammer
Trump, who sees DeSantis as his biggest rival, hasn’t held back with his insults: He regularly calls the father-of-three “DeSanctimonious” and privately calls him “Meatball Ron” — an apparent reference to his looks.
Donald Trump Jr. dubbed DeSantis “DeSaster” on Wednesday.
When asked about the possible nicknames and insults on Fox, DeSantis said he wasn’t concerned.
“I’ve been called anything but a child of God,” he told host Trey Gowdy.
“So that doesn’t bother me — you can call me whatever you want, but make sure you call me a winner because that’s what we’ve done in the state of Florida and that’s what we’re doing nationally — not just in the elections.” but actually putting all these great measures into action.”
DeSantis continued, “There will be slingshots and darts, but I’m a big boy, I can take it.”
“There are many people who have given much more so that this country can be free.”
“You can see their headstones at places like Arlington National Cemetery.”
“If the sacrifice I have to make is people swearing at me, that pales in comparison to what so many people throughout history have done for me to live in a free country.”
Trump released a new attack advert Wednesday, calling DeSantis a fraud
The subtle hint of Trump’s evasive maneuvers came when Trump released an attack ad against DeSantis, calling him an impostor.
“Why would we ever settle for Trump impostors?” a spokesman asked when showing images from a July 2018 video of DeSantis encouraging his daughter to build a wall and read about Trump.
DeSantis shot the video in 2018 when he was running for governor as a sign of his loyalty to Trump.
It is widely believed that Trump’s support helped DeSantis win his gubernatorial election.
“From day one, there’s only one who can make America great again,” the clip ended.
Polls show Trump is well ahead of DeSantis among Republican voters, but experts have highlighted that anything can happen between now and July.
Then the Republican nominee will be named at the party’s annual conference in Milwaukee.
DeSantis’ campaign got off to the worst start on Wednesday, when what was touted as a groundbreaking launch on Twitter turned into a farce.
The servers used by Twitter could not cope with the data traffic and the sound broke off regularly.
The feed was silent for 20 minutes while Elon Musk and his team worked to resolve the issue.
Host, David Sacks, said so many people were listening that the “internet had melted” but social media users were quick to point out that far larger live-streamed events had been held without issue.
DeSantis finally began speaking about 40 minutes after the scheduled time, reading from a script and stating that “American demise is not inevitable — it’s a choice.”
DeSantis pledged to “restor our nation’s sanity — fiscal and economic sanity” and said he will “embrace energy independence.”
Florida’s governor repeated his popular attacks on the “wake mind virus” and said he will prioritize protecting America’s borders and law and order.
“Governing is not entertainment: it’s not about building a brand or setting virtual signals,” he explained, promising that he will be “an energetic manager who takes on the important issues”.