Former President Donald Trump is preparing an opposition research file into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ past in the event that the governor decides to run for president, according to Politico.
The former president’s team and PAC are looking into DeSantis’ record as an attorney, Florida Congressman and his time as governor, Politico reported. They’ve also conducted focus groups and researched polling data to decipher the best plan of attack against the governor.
“The team itself has felt like he has had a free ride without scrutiny for a number of years,” former Trump campaign official Bryan Lanza told Politico. “The more and more that gets highlighted the more DeSantis is going to get exposed as just another member of the establishment and compared to Jeb Bush.”
A group aligned with Trump plans to label the governor’s record “lenient” as an assistant U.S. Attorney on cases regarding child pornography, Politico reported. DeSantis was assistant U.S. Attorney in several cases involving child pornography, in which he negotiated plea deals granting lesser punishments, according to Florida Politics.
Here we go. Trump is attacking DeSantis pic.twitter.com/6zlN9QYBH9
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 13, 2023
“To make any allegation that he was soft on any kind of case, especially child pornography, is just ludicrous. It defies the logic of what I saw in the office or what my office would let happen,” Ronald Henry, former assistant U.S. Attorney and supervisor to the governor when he was assistant U.S. Attorney, told Politico. (RELATED: Trump Explains Why He Gave DeSantis Nickname ‘Ron DeSanctimonious,’ Says He Regrets Endorsing Him For Governor)
The Trump campaign has been utilizing the time before DeSantis makes an announcement to spend time preemptively attacking him, Politico reported.
Trump has already made many personal attacks towards the governor, including an array of nicknames – “Ron DeSanctimonious,” “Ron DeSanctus” and “Tiny D,” to name a few. The former president has accused DeSantis of copying him, said Florida was already great before he became governor and even said he regrets endorsing him for office.
Trump also mentioned that the Florida governors who came before DeSantis did a “good job,” namely Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Charlie Crist.
“Sunshine and ocean are very alluring. It’s not too hard to work with those factors. So just remember, Florida was doing really well long before Ron DeSanctus got there,” Trump said.
Both DeSantis and Trump made recent trips to Iowa – a key early primary state – visiting the city of Davenport on Friday and Monday, respectively.
Neither the Trump campaign or DeSantis’ team immediately responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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