Trump targets DeSantis with twist on Kim Jong Un nickname: ‘Rocket Man that’s crashing’

Former President Trump took aim at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in an interview by calling him a new nickname similar to the one he gave to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2017.

“I should call him Rocket Man, but now he’s Rocket Man that’s crashing,” he said of DeSantis on the “Full Send Podcast”. “His polls are terrible. I’m leading him in every state.”

Trump mocked Kim as “Little Rocket Man” during much of his presidency, but has also claimed he got “along with him really well.”

His comments about DeSantis, however, are likely a nod to recent polls showing the Florida governor trailing him ahead of his widely expected presidential campaign launch.

According to a Wall Street Journal poll released on Friday, Trump jumped to a 13-point lead, which could be a sign that DeSantis’s momentum has fallen off.

Trump has continuously targeted the Florida governor with attacks as DeSantis considers a potential presidential bid for the Republican nomination in 2024. On the podcast episode, the former president took credit for DeSantis’s election to office, saying his endorsement pushed him to win the Florida gubernatorial election in 2018.

“He was dead politically. I endorsed him and saved him,” he said, adding, “He was losing by like 25, 30 points very shortly before the election when I endorsed him. He went like a rocket ship.”

This is not the first time Trump has taken credit for DeSantis’s election to the governor’s office in Florida. He has repeatedly recalled how DeSantis came to him “with tears in his eyes” to ask for an endorsement.