The pool for the GOP 2024 presidential primary continues to grow, and former President Donald Trump has revived attacks on Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). This time, Trump is comparing DeSantis to Jeb Bush and other conservatives he views as a drain on the party.
DeSantis remains the focus of Trump’s attacks, despite other Republicans entering the presidential race. Former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), who served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, announced her candidacy last week.
TRUMP PRIVATELY CALLS DESANTIS ‘MEATBALL RON’ AS HE ZEROES IN ON LIKELY RIVAL
While Trump’s campaign slammed her for her foreign policy decisions and disloyalty to the former president, Trump remains focused on who many speculate would be his biggest threat heading into 2024: DeSantis.
“If you look at the videos, my numbers have shot up in the last few weeks,” Trump said in an interview with Just the News, No Noise. “And Ron DeSanctimonious and his numbers have really crashed. Because, you know, they’re saying he was against Social Security. He was against Medicare. And little things like that.”
Recent polls have shown support for DeSantis shrinking slightly, with Trump ahead of the Florida governor at 46% compared to DeSantis’s 23%, per a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released to the Hill.
Trump told Just the News that he plans to paint DeSantis as a mold of former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL), former White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove, and former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) — all conservatives who he believes have “not been good for the Republican Party.”
“Karl Rove was one of the people he looks up to. Karl Rove has not been good for the Republican Party. And he’s led a lot of failed campaigns,” Trump said. “Paul Ryan is another one that he likes a lot. Paul Ryan, that’s another beauty. And Jeb, of course.”
Trump’s comparison of DeSantis to Bush and Ryan supports comments he made a few weeks ago when he posted on Turth Social that DeSantis is a “RINO GLOBALIST,” a disparaging acronym for “Republican in Name Only.”
The former president also has reportedly expanded his nicknames for DeSantis, referring to him as “Meatball Ron,” a likely jab at his appearance, and “Shutdown Ron,” a reference to his decision to place restrictions at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump, who has flip-flopped on his stance on early voting, admitted that he would be ready to embrace it for the 2024 election. Last week, a Wall Street Journal report stated that Trump’s campaign was poring through state election laws about mail-in and absentee voting to develop a strategy to secure a win.
His campaign sent out a fundraising email last week vowing to raise money for lawful ballot collection, or “ballot harvesting.”
“The radical Democrats have used ballot harvesting to cancel out YOUR vote and walk away with elections that they NEVER should have won. But I’m doing something HUGE to fight back,” the email said, per the report. “Our path forward is to MASTER the Democrats’ own game of harvesting ballots.”
Trump said he is already looking ahead to who he would select as vice president should he receive his party’s nomination.
“You’ve got to be smart,” he said. “You’ve got to be respected. You’ve got to have a conservative voice.”
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DeSantis, who ended the 2022 midterm elections with a major victory for himself and the Republican Party, has not yet announced whether he will run for president in 2024.
Last week, DeSantis was asked if he would run in the next presidential election after Haley announced her run. He responded, “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
