Former President Donald Trump bashed Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in an interview published on Monday by saying he has “no personality” and lacks “political skill,” The Messenger reported.
The former president touched on a number of topics including abortion, media coverage and the 2020 election during an exclusive interview with The Messenger. Trump, who announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election in November 2022, criticized DeSantis for being “disloyal” and claimed that his lack of personality and political skill is why he is not leading in the polls. (RELATED: ‘Too Harsh’: Trump Calls Out DeSantis Over Six-Week Abortion Ban)
“I’m doing much better against Biden than he is in the polls, and I’m doing much better against him. I mean, I’m beating [DeSantis] by 40 points in some polls, so he can talk about what he wants. And third of all, I did very well in the midterms,” Trump said. “[My endorsed candidates won] 233 out of 253 races, which nobody wants to report. … Ron’s not a winner because Ron without me wouldn’t have won. If I would have left it alone, he would have lost by 30 points or more.”
Trump endorsed DeSantis during his first bid for governor in 2018, which he won by a narrow margin. Trump branded DeSantis as “disloyal” and told The Messenger that he would “never run against the guy that did that,” referring to the endorsement.
“He’s got plenty of years left. And I think if he runs, he’s gonna lose MAGA votes forever,” Trump said. “That’s my opinion. And the MAGA votes are almost everything in the Republican Party, far bigger than you think.”
US President Donald Trump is greeted by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at Southwest Florida International Airport October 16, 2020, in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
DeSantis has not yet officially announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, but if he were to run, polls show that he would be the top challenger to Trump. Trump currently outpaces DeSantis in the polls, including a recent poll by FiveThirtyEight which shows him leading DeSantis 52.4% to 22.3%. No other Republican polls in double digits.
Trump gave DeSantis the nickname “Ron DeSanctimonious” during a November rally in Pennsylvania, and he told reporters in March that he regrets endorsing DeSantis for governor.
“And the moment I endorsed him, the whole thing changed immediately. It didn’t take two days it took just a short time. I’m a loyal person, so when I use the word Ron DeSanctimonious or Ron DeSanctus, it’s just a shorter version. I use them both,” he said. “I can’t use the sanctimonious twice in the same paragraph. So I use them but they actually work quite nicely together.”
The Trump campaign and DeSantis’ office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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