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Donald Trump is relentless, sending insults almost daily at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis even before he has announced a presidential run.
The latest came Saturday night, just before midnight, when the former president accused DeSantis of being endorsed by a “kinky” organization and being a “RINO in disguise.”
The post on Trump’s social media website, Truth Social, came nearly 24 hours after he vowed not to embarrass DeSantis following reports that he privately referred to the Republican governor as “Meatball Ron.”
The floodgates opened against DeSantis when Trump launched the campaign trail late last month. He told reporters on his plane between events in New Hampshire and South Carolina that it would be very “disloyal” if DeSantis launched a 2024 primary ticket against him.
Donald Trump has not stopped attacking Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has become the Republican most likely to beat the former president in a primary race.
Trump called DeSantis a ‘RINO in disguise’ in the latest attack and repeated his insulting nickname for the Florida governor: ‘DeSanctimonious’
‘Ron DeSanctimonious wants to cut his Social Security and Medicare, shut down Florida and its beaches, loves RINOS Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush and Karl Rove (disasters ALL!), is backed by Globalist’s Club for NO Growth, Lincoln Pervert Project, & Koch ‘uninspired’: and it only gets worse from there,’ Trump wrote.
It’s a RINO in disguise! he lamented, ‘whose poll numbers are dropping like a rock. Good luck Ron!
Listing some established Republicans like former House Speaker Paul Ryan and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush was an attempt by Trump to further link DeSantis to being a “Republican in name only,” which has been shortened to RINO.
Trump said in a post at 1:00 a.m. Saturday morning that he will not call DeSantis by the nickname “Meatball Ron,” but later repeated a different insult to his potential Republican challenger in the same post.
The former president claimed it would be “inappropriate” to use the word “meatball” as a nickname, which has been reported to be a jab at DeSantis’ Italian heritage.
“I will never call Ron DeSanctimonious ‘Meatball’ Ron, as the fake news insists I will,” he wrote on a conservative social media site.
Trump had begun using DeSantis’ nicknames during private conversations, a New York Times report revealed last week. It comes as tensions continue to boil between the two potential 2024 rivals.
The latest slur came after Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday that he will not call DeSantis by the nickname ‘Meatball Ron’ because it would be ‘inappropriate’
Trump took to his social platform on Saturday, insisting that it would be “totally inappropriate to use the word ‘meatball’ as a nickname for Ron.”
The post continued: “Though FoxNews kills lightweight Paul Ryan is revered by him, Low Energy Jeb Bush is his hero and always by his side, his beaches and state closed for long periods of time, his testing, testing, testing for the China Virus didn’t work out very well, and his loyalty abilities are really weak, it would be totally inappropriate to use the word ‘meatball’ as a nickname for Ron!’
But in an interview with the new york post officethe governor laughed at the nicknames.
He recalled a time as a teenager showing up to baseball practice at the field used by the Toronto Blue Jays for spring training.
“The Blue Jays would have spring training games at 1 o’clock and we’d come to practice at 4 and the pros would leave,” DeSantis said, adding that the big leaguers often made fun of high school students.
“We had our names on the lockers, and sometimes the pros would change the spelling of our names to make profanities,” he explained.
When asked if he ever switched to DeSanctimonious, he laughed.
‘No. There weren’t enough letters to be able to do that. I don’t know if anyone knows how to spell it.
Trump has launched a series of new insults at DeSantis in recent months.
Trump has launched a series of new insults at DeSantis in recent months. But in an interview with The New York Post, the governor laughed off the nicknames.
He also reportedly called him ‘Shutdown Ron’ for his state’s brief economic and social lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
DeSantis had seen his star rise during the pandemic as a vocal opponent of the Biden administration’s public health policies, from vaccines to remote learning.
He is fast becoming a viable alternative for Republican voters who appreciated Trump’s policies but found the man himself too bombastic and divisive.
But like most governors, DeSantis oversaw the first pandemic restrictions when COVID-19 became a serious problem in the US in March 2020. He tightened the restrictions in Broward and Palm Beach, closing its beaches, which Trump was quick to apply. in the last weeks.
Trump told CNN on his plane last month that DeSantis was trying to “rewrite history” about his administration during the pandemic.
DeSantis has not formally declared his intention to run for president, but his refusal to rule out a possible challenge to Trump in the primary has infuriated the former president.
And in addition to his supposedly sarcastic nicknames thrown behind closed doors, Trump has also stepped up his trademark colorful attacks on governors in public.
He has called him “Ron DeSanctimonious” multiple times in recent weeks, a nickname Trump debuted just before the midterm elections that earned him criticism from fellow Republicans for shooting inside the store.
Trump has also used his Truth Social platform to promote rumors that DeSantis partied with underage girls while working as a teacher at a Georgia high school.
He re-shared a follower’s post of an image purporting to be a young DeSantis, with three girls around him whose faces are blurred.
‘Ron DeSantis was having a ‘drinking’ party with his students when he was a high school teacher. Having drinks with underage girls and snuggling with them certainly looks pretty gross and ephebophilic,” the post read.
Trump commented: ‘No way?’
‘That’s not Ron, is it? He would never do such a thing! he added he in a separate post.
The field of Republican presidential candidates begins to expand with their former UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, announcing her candidacy on Wednesday.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign (left) came out with a series of lines of attack against Nikki Haley (right) as she wrapped up her remarks in Charleston on Wednesday.
DeSantis captured 53 percent of the votes of Republican respondents in a hypothetical head-to-head primary race, while Trump got just 40 percent. The survey was conducted from January 26 to February 2.
For now, Trump remains a prominent figure within the Republican Party and wields tremendous influence among primary voters.
Still, the field of Republican presidential candidates is beginning to expand with their former UN ambassador, nikki haleyannouncing his candidacy. Polls suggest Republican voters are open endorse someone other than Trump.
More moderate challengers, like the former governor of Maryland. Larry Hoganit may come up soon. Trump’s Vice President mike penceand Secretary of State mike pompeo, could be executed. South Carolina Senator Tim Scott plans to visit Iowa, fueling speculation about his political future.