Former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to fire back at Florida GOP Gov. "Ron DeSanctimonious," one day after DeSantis took his own shots at Trump and teased a 2024 presidential campaign announcement.
"Ron DeSanctimonious is running — without running!" Trump wrote Wednesday in the early afternoon. "He's doing this to subvert election law. Run Ron, Run!
"Others have done it before, though, so I can't really blame him — but he should take a look at his polls, which are crashing like few people have seen before. That's because he's merely an average Republican governor who has great public relations, far better than deserved.
"When you look at the Florida #'s compared to other states, you will not be impressed — I will release them later in the day!"
Trump's remarks come one day after DeSantis sat down with anti-Trump host Piers Morgan and took shots at the former president, claiming he is fit to be the next president.
"It's not important for me to be fighting with people on social media," DeSantis told Morgan. "It's not accomplishing anything for the people I represent.
"So, we really just focus on knocking out victories, day after day, and if I got involved in all the undertow, I would not be able to be an effective governor."
But, early Wednesday, Trump claimed DeSantis' remarks to Morgan were sanctimonious.
"While I am fighting against radical left lunatics, persecutors, and unfair prosecutors who want to destroy us all, Ron DeSanctimonious is not working for the people of Florida as he should be," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "He is too busy chatting with a ratings challenged TV host from England, desperately trying to rescue his failing campaign — but it's my fault, I put him there!"
Trump has taken credit for helping to elevate DeSantis from the U.S. House to be Florida governor in 2018 by endorsing him. Then, Trump again endorsed DeSantis in the waning days of the 2022 midterms, and DeSantis ran away in his reelection effort.
Trump has led most 2024 GOP primary polls — many by a wide margin — but reports suggest DeSantis has lured the big Republican donors before making his 2024 presidential campaign announcement.
Trump has picked up his attacks on his chief GOP rival, while DeSantis has said he wants to remain focused on "putting points on the board" for Florida. DeSantis did make his most pointed Trump remarks yet in the interview with Morgan, who has come out as a harsh critic of the former president.
"The way we run the government, I think, is no daily drama, focus on the big picture, and put points on the board, and I think that's something that's very important," DeSantis told Morgan.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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