Former President Trump on Wednesday took a swing at Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) after the Florida governor knocked him in an interview with Fox Nation’s Piers Morgan, another clash between the two GOP figures as they prepare for what could be a 2024 presidential primary match-up.
In an interview set to air on Fox Nation’s “Piers Morgan Uncensored” Thursday and published in part by The New York Post, DeSantis shifted from his previously veiled stance to more directly addressing the former president’s attacks with jabs of his own toward Trump’s character and leadership.
Trump, who is facing a looming indictment in New York over a hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels, took to Truth Social to respond to DeSantis.
“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, 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!” he said.
Trump’s remarks underline his team’s effort to cast DeSantis as disloyal to him in the face of New York prosecutors.
DeSantis has criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, but has also swiped at Trump’s association with Daniels.
Trump announced his 2024 campaign just after the midterms in November — and while DeSantis hasn’t formally announced a bid, he’s hinted that he’s gearing up for a possible bid and could make a decision once Florida’s legislative session wraps up in May.
A range of 2024 polling has indicated DeSantis could be a top challenger to the former president as he tries for another four years in the White House.
But Trump-aligned super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. has claimed that DeSantis’s interview with Morgan was the Florida governor “lashing out against President Trump because his poll numbers keep falling.” The group noted a Monmouth University poll this month that found Trump up 14 points over DeSantis after a February poll had the two tied.
Trump endorsed DeSantis when he ran for governor in Florida back in 2018, a move the former president has since said he “probably” regrets. DeSantis told Morgan of the pair’s relationship that “the major thing that’s happened that’s changed his tune was my re-election victory.”
In his latest Truth Social post on the Florida governor, Trump notably used his “Ron DeSanctimonious” moniker, which Trump coined ahead of midterms and has reportedly workshopped as part of his campaign prep. DeSantis said in the Morgan interview that he “kinda” likes the nickname.
“I don’t know how to spell the sanctimonious one. I don’t really know what it means, but I kinda like it, it’s long, it’s got a lot of vowels,” DeSantis said of the nickname.