Former President Donald Trump's jibes at the expense of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at his first rally for the 2024 presidential election appeared to be met with relative silence from rally-goers.
Trump once again hit out at DeSantis in front of thousands who attended his first 2024 campaign event in Waco, Texas, on Saturday. While the former president has made remarks at the expense of his political rivals, such as the infamous "crooked Hilary [Clinton]" name-calling, he was met with a muted response when he mentioned the governor.
During the rally, Trump claimed DeSantis, who has not officially announced his candidacy for the 2024 election, begged him for an endorsement in the race to become Florida's governor in 2018.
In a clip shared by Mediaite on Saturday night, the former president said: "He came and said 'I really want it.' I said, 'You can't win, can you?' 'Sir, if you endorse me I'll win. Please, sir, endorse me. And I said, 'Alright, let's give it a shot.'"
Trump added: "I said, 'Let's give it a shot, Ron.' I endorsed him and he became like a rocket ship. Within one day the race was over, he got the nomination."
Despite Trump's attacks on DeSantis, few appeared to gain a positive reaction from the crowd. However, according to Politico, Trump's assessment that he did give DeSantis a boost is accurate, with polling taken at the time suggesting the endorsement helped his campaign.
On Saturday, the former president continued: "I did rallies for Ron. Massive rallies and they were very successful. So, we got him the nomination. We then got him the election. He said, 'I don't think I can make it. Because the other guy was really popular. He was going to be the next president of the United States."
Trump later continued: "Two years later, the fake news is up there saying, 'Will you run against the President? Will you run? And he says, 'I have no comment.' I say, 'That's not supposed to happen.'"
A Trump spokesperson told Newsweek: "President Trump is a truth-teller and he exposes hypocrisy on all levels. President Trump will undoubtedly win the primary and go on to defeat Joe Biden. Poll after poll shows he leads by wide margins against any and all candidates."
The former president has made no secret of his dislike for the Florida governor, who he has repeatedly taken the opportunity to lash out at. Trump has attacked DeSantis on his social media platform Truth Social by touting polls that point to a likely Trump victory or calling him the nickname "Ron DeSanctimonious."
According to numerous polls, Trump has an edge over DeSantis and has consistently commanded more support from Republicans than the governor. Latest polls aggregated by FiveThirtyEight showed the former president taking the lead in the Republican primary over DeSantis by 50 percent compared to the governor's 44 percent.
Meanwhile, the former president was mocked online this weekend after he shared a Twitter poll by the right-wing troll account Catturd, which backs Trump. In the poll, an overwhelming number of Twitter respondents said they would prefer Trump to DeSantis.
DeSantis also addressed the repeated attacks from Trump during a recent interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan, saying the "regular attempts to provoke him"—such as giving him nicknames or taunting him with hypothetical election polls where Trump is shown ahead—are nothing but "background noise."
Newsweek has contacted DeSantis' offices for comment by email.
Update 3/27/23, 3:25 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from a spokesperson for Trump.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Anders Anglesey is a U.S. News Reporter based in London, U.K., covering crime, politics, online extremism and trending stories. Anders ... Read more
