DeSantis super PAC in new ad: ‘What happened to Donald Trump?’

A super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) attacked former President Trump in its first TV ad for his aggression toward the governor ahead of what is expected to be a 2024 White House bid by DeSantis.

“Donald Trump is being attacked by a Democrat prosecutor in New York,” the narrator in the ad released Sunday said. “So why is he spending millions attacking the Republican governor of Florida? Trump’s stealing pages from the Biden-Pelosi playbook.”

The ad blasts Trump for his offensive against DeSantis’s stance on Social Security. In 2013, DeSantis, who at the time was a member of the U.S. House, voted for a resolution that called for the age to qualify for Medicare and Social Security to be raised to 70. Since then, DeSantis has said that Republicans should not touch the programs when it comes to negotiations over spending cuts in Washington, D.C.

The super Pac then turned the attack back around on Trump, playing a clip of the former president in an interview from the World Economic Forum in which he said entitlements would be on his plate for spending cuts “at some point.”

“At some point they will be,” Trump said in 2020. “At the right time, we will take a look at that.”

The ad finishes by saying that Trump should fight Democrats and not attack DeSantis, asking: “What happened to Donald Trump?”

The two Republicans’ relationship has soured with both seemingly destined for a showdown on the campaign trail for the GOP’s nomination in 2024. Trump has already started his campaign, and DeSantis is expected to in the next couple of months.

While surveys show Trump as the frontrunner for the nomination next year, it also shows DeSantis as his main rival, with the governor polling above other Republicans who have launched 2024 campaigns.