Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed former President Donald Trump Thursday for “going left” on issues in an attempt to smear him.
DeSantis argued the former president “wasn’t the Donald Trump from 2015 and 2016” who resonated with conservatives on his first campaign trail. The Florida governor specifically criticized Trump for attacking him over taking away Disney’s special status.
“I think that some of the things he’s been attacking me on, I’ve been a little surprised by that because he’s attacking me from the left and that really wasn’t the Donald Trump from 2015 and 2016. I mean, he was a hard charger leaning in on all the issues, very edgy on conservative issues and that’s part of the reason he did so well,” DeSantis said. “But when he’s taking Disney’s side against me I just kinda wonder, like okay, I get he wants to hit me. But don’t take the side of a multinational corporation that wants to sexualize kids.”
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The Florida governor also disputed Trump’s claims that the governor voted against border security when serving in Congress. In 2018, he voted against a $1.3 trillion omnibus bill funding $1.6 billion to a border wall. (RELATED: ‘All-Out Assault’: Things Are About To Bust Wide Open Between Trump, DeSantis)
“He’s also hitting me for voting against immigration amnesty, there was the good bill in 2018 and he said that was akin to voting against the wall,” DeSantis said. “But that bill was two million person amnesty for illegal aliens, very little money for any border security, all conservatives opposed it. He supported it as president which a lot of us were upset about, but to hit me for taking the America First position I think is a little strange.”
Trump threatened to veto the bill for not providing enough funding for the wall.
The former president is currently the frontrunner in the 2024 Republican primary. Recent polls have found Trump leading all other contenders by double digits. DeSantis has held massive leads over Trump in several polls, causing the former president to target his campaign attacks at the governor.