Trump Furthers Fight With Ron DeSantis
By Nikki Slusher
It’s been no secret that former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis aren’t on the best of terms. Since Trump has announced his run for the Republican Party presidential nominee for 2024, and DeSantis has been jetting off during disasters in the Sunshine State for his anticipated presidential campaign, the two have been less than friendly. A pro-Trump PAC has already started the attack ads — the latest calling DeSantis “pudding fingers.”
Now the Trump campaign is amping up its tactics and going after the Governor’s track record. Florida is currently “among the worst” states to raise a family, work, and retire, per Trump’s campaign fired off in their rebuttal to DeSantis claims about Florida thriving under his leadership. The campaign is arguing that Florida is ranking poorly on a majority of issues from polling data by Oxfam, Money Inc., U.S. News & World Report, and the Florida Policy Institute (listed in the Sarasota Herald Tribune’s reporting of the story).
“The real DeSantis record is one of misery and despair,” said Steven Cheung through a Trump campaign email on Friday. “He has left a wake of destruction all across Florida and people are hurting because he has spent more time playing public relations games instead of actually doing the hard-work needed to improve the lives of the people he represents.” Well no shit, what do you expect from a guy that talks about fighting the “woke” every sentence.
Other major issues facing the state include an affordability crisis, low wages for workers (especially teachers), low economic opportunity and lack of protections for the elderly who make up a huge portion of the population. “Under Ron DeSantis, Florida has become among the worst states… to live… find economic opportunity… work… retire… raise a family… pay taxes…be safe… rent a home… have a baby… afford energy… die… be a teacher… be a doctor… be a police officer,” Trump’s campaign email stated.
The rhetoric is polar opposite of Trump’s view of DeSantis before they were competing against each other. Trump praised DeSantis as a “great governor” and “great warrior” back in February 2020. He even claimed that DeSantis begged for his help to win in 2018, obviously taking all the credit while insinuating he stopped the counting of votes in 2018 to give both DeSantis and Senator Rick Scott victories.
The message Trump is pushing is fascinating. First, it completely goes against what DeSantis and the Florida GOP have boasted themselves on. It also mimics what Democrats have been saying in their criticisms of the DeSantis administration and policies. They too have stated the governor ignored the affordability problem, along with a number of others, while waging a culture war and feuding with the state’s top employer, Disney.
It’s expected that DeSantis will officially announce his candidacy right after the Florida State Legislature wraps this session up. Of course it’ll be after the state law requiring officials to resign from office before running for another law is reversed in his favor. His back up plan tells me he knows there’s a chance he loses to Trump but still will be able to stay on his throne if that happens. Either way I’m all for letting the girls fight it out publicly.
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