Now that Donald Trump has opened the floodgates against potential 2024 GOP contender Ron DeSantis, he’s going all out, calling the hugely popular Florida governor a “Republican in name only.”
In true Trump form, just weeks before announcing his candidacy for the White House in November, the ex-president was nicknamed “Ron DeSanctimonious” — and was beginning to become more direct in his attacks.
Over the weekend, Trump made a one-day swing through two states to the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina. On his flight between the two East Coast states, Trump told reporters on his plane that it would be very “disloyal” if DeSantis ran against him in a 2024 GOP primary.
Now he’s escalating the criticism as it seems increasingly likely that DeSantis could make a bid for the White House.
Donald Trump is escalating his attacks on Ron DeSantis, calling the widely popular Florida governor a RINO, or Republican, in name only
The former president said DeSantis was trying to rewrite history by touting his anti-lockdown stance and claimed the Florida governor was a “globalist” who “loved vaccines”.
DeSantis has been slow to respond to the former president’s criticism, but said Tuesday that Florida voters have given their verdict on him by re-electing him for a second term.
In a series of posts and reposts to Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump went fantastic in his claims against DeSantis, claiming the anti-lockdown governor “loves vaccines” and “closed” beaches.
“The real Ron is a RINO GLOBALIST who was quick to shut down Florida and even its beaches,” Trump wrote. “I loved the vaccines and wasted a lot of money on ‘testing’. How quickly people forget!’
He was responding to a post on his social media site that claimed Trump would “destroy” DeSantis in a primary.
Several other tweets were reinterpreted by Trump, including one that said, “DeSantis was never America first, he’s faking it and trying to build up his conservative credentials until he’s elected president.”
Another from a separate account noted: “He’s a globalist guy. Do not be fooled.’
“He supports Ukraine and has criticized Trump for his foreign policy,” the user continued. “Trump kept everyone in check and didn’t start wars…well, he fought a war on the DS [deep state] But it’s fine anyway. Dems don’t have anyone to stop Trump so they use Ron.
DeSantis brushed off Trump, calling him “disloyal,” using the moniker “DeSanctimonious,” and attacking his COVID-19 response by saying voters made their judgment by re-electing him for a second term
Trump made several posts “truthful again” Wednesday attacking Gov. DeSantis
In particular, Trump liked the line in which he called DeSantis a “globalist.”
One user wrote, “DeSantis was never America first, he’s faking it and trying to build his conservative credentials until he’s elected President.”
Trump twice called the Florida governor “DeSanctimonious” in tweets Tuesday.
DeSantis dismissed the criticism, claiming the “judgment was made” that his leadership, particularly his response to Covid-19, was popular with the people who voted for his re-election.
The Florida governor remained unperturbed at a higher education news briefing on Tuesday, saying in response to Trump’s comments, “I’m rolling out of bed, I’ve got people attacking from all angles. It’s been happening for many, many years.”
He added: “If you look at the good thing about it, it’s like taking on a crisis situation like Covid. The good thing is, when you’re an elected leader, you have to make all kinds of decisions, you have to steer the ship.
“And the good thing is that the people can make a judgment on whether or not to re-elect you.
“So I would say that judgment was made by the people of Florida state,” DeSantis concluded, referring to his massive reelection win in the 2022 midterm elections.
Trump is speaking from South Carolina for the first day of a high-profile campaign on the way to 2024
DeSantis reaped the wrath of Trump after his increasingly popular Florida politics led to national notoriety and whispered he could seek a White House bid.
The former president’s 2024 campaign, meanwhile, is gaining more support after a lackluster start.
DeSantis only earned his spot at the governor’s mansion in 2018 after Trump fell into the neck-and-neck race. The confirmation sent DeSantis jumping double digits in the polls.
“If it wasn’t for me, Ron wouldn’t have become governor,” Trump told reporters on Saturday aboard his plane en route to South Carolina for a campaign event.
“Well, if I hear that he might run away, I think that’s very disloyal,” he lamented.
Trump kicked off his 2024 bid Saturday with stops in the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina.
As Trump launched his 2024 White House bid on Saturday, he stabbed DeSantis by claiming it would be “very disloyal” if he launched a primary White House bid against him
He also slammed DeSantis for shutting down Florida for a “long time” during the Covid-19 pandemic when other Republican states weren’t, claiming the governor and his team are “trying to rewrite history.” .
In two posts on his Truth Social app, Trump twice came up with the nickname “DeSanctimonious” when he accused DeSantis of being a “globalist” and of “closing Florida and its beaches” during the pandemic.
His return to using the moniker is a sign that the ex-president is poised for an all-out political war against his rival. DeSantis has not officially declared any White House offers, but his refusal to rule out one has infuriated Trump.
Trump first used the “Ron DeSanctimonious” line during a rally in Pennsylvania just three days before the midterm elections – and was immediately criticized by leading Republicans for attacking the governor on the eve of his reelection bid.
He initially backed down and even encouraged people to vote for DeSantis the next day before steadily ramping up his attacks again.
In the first of two posts Sunday night, Trump rarely praised the media for covering his first two campaign events, which took place in New Hampshire and then South Carolina on Saturday.
He wrote hours later on Truth Social, “The revelations that Ron DeSanctimonious was doing MUCH WORSE than many other Republican governors, including the fact that he closed Florida and its beaches without apologies, was interesting indeed.
Trump added, referring to himself in the third person: “DJT leads BIG!!!”
In the second post, just after midnight Monday, Trump went on a bizarre tangent against conservative group Club For Growth — and somehow DeSantis got caught up in the mix.
The influential organization has been at odds with Trump since the 2022 midseason, when it clashed with him in two high-profile Republican Senate primaries in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
It also undercut its Nov. 15 presidential announcement by releasing an early 2024 poll the day before showing Trump losing to DeSantis.
“The Club For No Growth is a GLOBALIST group that I’ve been taking to cleanse for years. We worked together for a while but they couldn’t leave China, Europe, Asia and parts unknown,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in the early hours of Monday morning.
“You know I’m not going to play that game, I’m America First all the time. That’s the only way we’ll make America great again.
“Ron DeSanctimonious, who I made governor in BOTH elementary school and general, is also a globalist, and so are his donors.”
He also sought to link DeSantis to Jeb Bush, the former Republican governor of Florida whom Trump comfortably defeated for the GOP nomination in 2024 — despite the former’s place in one of America’s foremost political dynasties.
In his first of two Truth Social posts where he shared his “Ron DeSanctimonious” line, Trump accused the Florida governor of shutting down his state during the pandemic
In the second post, Trump also targeted the conservative group Club For Growth
DeSantis has so far been reluctant to face Trump publicly, a strategy that has seemed to be paying off for him so far.
He has seen his GOP star rise throughout the Biden administration with his vocal opposition to the president’s progressive policies.
He’s also made a name for himself with Trump’s MAGA base, throwing himself into the culture wars with LGBTQ-specific laws and adopting critical race theory in schools.
But through it all, DeSantis has repeatedly insisted his focus is on Florida when asked about his 2024 ambitions. It has done little to quell enthusiasm, particularly among fellow Republicans.
“Obviously, DeSantis and Trump are the two candidates, right whether he’s declared or not,” New Hampshire GOP Gov. Chris Sununu said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.