Trump on the possibility of Ron DeSantis running against him in 2024: ‘We’re going to handle this the way I handle things’
Then-President Donald Trump with then-Florida gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis at a Make America Great Again rally in Tampa, Fla. in July 2018.REUTERS/Carlos Barria
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Donald Trump fired a warning at Ron DeSantis during a podcast on Monday.
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Trump said he heard DeSantis “may want to run against him.”
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“So we’re going to deal with this the way I deal with things,” Trump said.
On Monday, former President Donald Trump called the conservative podcast The Water Cooler and warned his potential presidential rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
“Well, now I’m hearing that maybe he wants to compete against me. So we’re going to deal with this the way I deal with things,” Trump said.
Trump also claimed — as he has done repeatedly in the past — credit for DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial win, saying, “I voted for him plain and simple.”
DeSantis has not announced that he will run for president, but has indicated that he may do so. During a debate in October, DeSantis not committed to serve four full years as Governor of Florida. Insider’s Kimberly Leonard also reported in November that DeSantis is releasing his first autobiography, a leading indicator that he is eyeing a run at the White House.
DeSantis has also become a prominent leader to challenge Trump for the Republican presidential ticket. In a YouGov poll of 413 Republicans three days after the 2022 midterms, 42% of respondents said they would prefer to have DeSantis as the GOP nominee for 2024. Only 35% said they prefer Trump.
Meanwhile, Trump did not fail to insult DeSantis. Trump was appointed governor in November “Ron DeSanctimonious” during a rally and labeled him “mean” on social media.
Privately, Trump doesn’t seem to be DeSantis’ biggest fan either. In January 2022, Jonathan Swan of Axios reported that Trump attacked the governor behind closed doors, blasting him for his perceived ingratitude and saying DeSantis had a “boring personality.”
DeSantis, meanwhile, avoided addressing Trump’s insults and refrained from hitting back. In a Nov. 16 news conference, DeSantis urged people to “relax” on a possible GOP civil war between him and the former president.
DeSantis officials and a spokesman for Trump’s post-presidential office did not immediately respond to insiders’ requests for comment.
Read the original article on Business Insider
