Donald Trump backers listless vessels, says Ron DeSantis

The Trump campaign seized on the remarks, comparing them to Hillary Clinton’s description of MAGA Republicans.

Ron DeSantis in Atlanta, Georgia, last week. Picture: AFP

Ron DeSantis has been accused of insulting members of the movement he hopes to lead by suggesting “MAGA Republicans” are in danger of becoming “listless vessels” subservient to the pronouncements of Donald Trump.

The presidential candidate and Florida Governor was regarded as Mr Trump’s nearest rival for the party’s nomination before he entered the race in May, a man many of the former president’s supporters admired and considered a potential alternative.

His campaign has sought to walk a thin line in courting them, shying away from outright criticism even as Trump labelled him “Ron DeSanctimonious”. Instead he sought to suggest his record in Florida showed him to be capable of a more efficient, less chaotic form of government.

But his poll numbers have slipped since the northern spring from about 30 per cent to 10 per cent after awkward moments on the campaign trail and signs that several criminal indictments have served only to harden Mr Trump’s support.

In an interview before the first Republican debate this week DeSantis was asked to respond to claims from some MAGA (Make America Great Again) people that he was a “RINO” – a Republican in name only, backed by the Bush and Cheney families of the old party establishment.

“We have a strand in our party that views supporting Trump as whether you are a RINO or not,” he replied. “You could be the most conservative person since sliced bread (but) unless you are kissing his rear end they will somehow call you a RINO.”

Talking to The Florida Standard, a new conservative news outlet, he added: “The movement has got to be about what we are trying to achieve on behalf of the American people, and that’s got to be based on principle, because if you are not rooted in principle, if all you are is listless vessels that are just supposed to follow whatever happens to be coming down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that’s just not a durable movement.”

The Trump campaign seized on the remarks, comparing them to Hillary Clinton’s description of MAGA Republicans in 2016 when she said that “you could put half of Trump’s supporters into the basket of deplorables … racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it”, while the other half “feel that the government has let them down”.

Trump’s campaign swiftly produced “deplorables” T-shirts and hats for supporters. Jason Miller, a Trump campaign aide, declared that it “looks like Ron DeSanctimonious just had his ‘basket of deplorables’ moment”.

Bryan Griffin, a spokesman for DeSantis, said the controversy was the fault of “the dishonest media” and said DeSantis was, in fact, suggesting that “Donald Trump and some congressional endorsers were ‘listless vessels’ … because Trump and DC insiders feel he is entitled to your vote”.

Republican candidates will hold their first presidential debate on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), in Milwaukee. Mr Trump will miss it, apparently concluding that his presence could only benefit his rivals, as he is so far ahead of the field. A poll last week showed him as having 56 per cent support among registered Republicans, with DeSantis managing only 10 per cent.

The Times