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At a rally on Saturday night, former president Donald Trump called Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “Ron DeSanctimonious,” possibly signaling a deepening rift between the two future presidential contenders.
Trump told an audience in Latrobe, Pennsylvania on Saturday night that “we’re winning huge in the Republican Party for the nomination like nobody’s ever seen before” before listing several Republicans who might run against him in 2024.
As he recited the approval ratings of several Republicans, Trump told the crowd, “There it is, Trump at 71 percent, Ron DeSanctimonious at 10%.” The Republican presidential nominees are largely regarded as the two leading candidates for the party’s nomination, and there have been rumors of rising friction between their respective camps. Hence, Trump’s jab.
Earlier this year, DeSantis denied reports that he and Trump were at odds, calling the president a “friend of mine.” DeSantis stated to Fox News in February that the president wanted to see Republicans succeed. “And I think it’s complete nonsense when the media tries to make it seem like he’s angry with me for performing well. They must be making things up, in my opinion.”
Governor DeSantis Speaks at a Republican Party of Florida Event in Solivita, FLhttps://t.co/poPX8iqgoF
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) November 3, 2022
DeSantis has consistently performed worse than Trump in recent Republican voter polls conducted ahead of the 2024 election, but the governor is still seen as Trump’s biggest threat. The Turning Point USA Student Action Summit’s presidential straw poll revealed that 78.7% of participants wanted Trump to be the Republican nominee in 2024.
Trump received 69% of the support of delegates at the Conservative Political Action Conference in August, according to another straw poll conducted there. Just 24% of voters supported DeSantis when he ran. After Florida Republican DeSantis endorsed Colorado Republican Senate Candidate Joe O’Dea last month despite O’Dea’s outspoken criticism of Trump, Trump expressed his unhappiness with DeSantis in public.
Former President Trump going after Governor Ron DeSantis as Ron “DeSanctimonious” while also mocking former VP Pence three days before the crucial midterm election. Was hoping we could get through Tuesday before the name-calling started. https://t.co/kocOBJiGRU
— Mark Walker (@RepMarkWalker) November 6, 2022
Trump will attend a rally in Florida on Sunday in Miami to back Florida Republican Marco Rubio. According to Fox News, DeSantis was not invited to the event despite the fact that he is extremely well-liked by Republicans in the state. Although Trump hasn’t declared his intentions to run for president, many political analysts think he will do so soon after Tuesday’s midterm elections.
DeSantis hesitated to say if he would run for office in 2024 during a debate last month, stoking rumors that he was thinking about doing so. An inquiry for comment from Fox News Digital was not immediately answered by DeSantis’ or Trump’s representatives.
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