Former President Donald Trump re-upped his attacks on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday, firing off a short video on his Truth Social platform.
DeSantis is widely expected to declare his candidacy for the 2024 Republican nomination, which would set him on a collision course with Trump, who declared in November.
Trump appears to be workshopping potential nicknames for the governor, having seemed to retire “Ron DeSanctimonious” after it was panned. The former president has taken to referring to him as “Ron DeSanctus” of late, including in the video Trump posted on Monday:
For those of you that didn’t notice, Florida was doing great long before Ron DeSanctus got there. People are fleeing from New York to Florida and other places because of high taxes and out-of-control crime – it’s really bad – not because of the governor. “Thank you, Mr. President, for doing that.”
But it’s not because of the governor. Florida was doing fantastic. You had a governor named Rick Scott, who did a very good job. Even Charlie Crist – a Democrat – did a good job and he had very good numbers. 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 views DeSantis’s potential candidacy as an act of disloyalty after Trump endorsed him for governor in 2018. The former president insists his support vaulted DeSantis to the governorship.
Trump previously denied reporting he privately refers to DeSantis as “Meatball Ron,” in what would be either a knock on the governor’s physical appearance or his Italian heritage – or both.
