by Sharon Rondeau
(May 24, 2023) — Shortly after 7:00 a.m. Wednesday, with the expected announcement this evening on Twitter of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s 2024 presidential candidacy, 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump, also a declared 2024 Republican presidential candidate, posted on his TruthSocial account that DeSantis is “disloyal.”
In September 2018, DeSantis resigned from Congress to concentrate on his bid for Florida governor in the Republican primary against then-Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who was leading DeSantis significantly at the time. In a September 10, 2018 article, Politico described DeSantis as “one of President Donald Trump’s staunchest congressional allies.”
Following Trump’s endorsement, DeSantis was catapulted into the lead, defeating Putnam in the primary and going on to become governor after winning narrowly against Democrat Andrew Gillum.
Trump appeared at three rallies for DeSantis, he pointed out in his comment Wednesday morning. He also endorsed DeSantis for re-election, albeit at the last minute.
In November, DeSantis won re-election over Democrat Charlie Crist, a former Florida governor and congressman, by a much larger margin than in his previous race and has been touted not only as a potential presidential candidate, but also as a promoter of greater freedom as the nation navigated the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump’s comment is not the first criticism he has leveled at DeSantis; rather, since the governor began touring the country, purportedly to promote his book, “The Courage to be Free” published in February, Trump decried DeSantis for voting in favor of extending the age of eligibility for Social Security to 70 and decreasing Medicare spending as well as for running a “shadow campaign.”
Last month DeSantis visited Asia, Israel and the United Kingdom with a Florida “international trade mission,” speaking with “foreign leaders” and “business executives.”
Trump was the first Republican to announce he would seek the 2024 Republican nomination in mid-November, with Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy following over the winter. On April 26, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson declared his candidacy, and on Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (SC) announced he would also seek the nomination.
While Trump wished Scott “Good luck” following his announcement, he and his surrogates have pointed out that DeSantis’s poll numbers in recent weeks have slumped.
In February, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush endorsed DeSantis, who reportedly has the support of many “establishment” Republicans opposed to a second Trump term.
Twitter owner and entrepreneur Elon Musk will host DeSantis’s appearance on Twitter to make the announcement, Fox News and NBC reported Wednesday morning, while ABC News reported, “The Twitter conversation will be moderated by Musk ally David Sacks.”
As a follow-up to his first comment Wednesday, Trump added, “Ron DeSanctus can’t win the General Election (or get the Nomination) because he VOTED TO OBLITERATE SOCIAL SECURITY, EVEN WANTING TO RAISE THE MINIMUM AGE TO 70 (or more), VOTED TO BADLY WOUND MEDICARE, AND FOUGHT HARD AND VOTED FOR A 23% ‘TAX ON EVERYTHING’ SALES TAX. He was, and is, a disciple of horrible RINO Paul Ryan, and others too many to mention. Also, he desperately needs a personality transplant and, to the best of my knowledge, they are not medically available yet. A disloyal person!”
