Trump attacks rival, labels him ‘Ron DeSanctimonious’

Donald Trump has taken aim at his strongest opposition to the Republican presidential nomination - with polls suggesting Ron DeSantis’ popularity is swelling.

Donald Trump has taken the fight to the Republican politician seen as his strongest rival for the party’s presidential nomination in 2024.

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has steadily emerged as a plausible challenger in any Republican primary and has irritated the former president by repeatedly refusing to rule out a run for the nomination if Trump declares his candidacy.

Trump, speaking in Pennsylvania at the weekend, stood beside a large screen that showed what he said was polling data for how he stood against potential rivals in his own party. “We are winning big, big, big in the Republican party for the nomination,” he said. “Let’s see: Trump at 71, Ron de Sanctimonious at 10 per cent.”

The insult appeared to have been tested days earlier by his ally Roger Stone, who wrote on Trump’s social media network Truth Social that the former president’s endorsement in a tight race for governor in 2018 had “MADE Ron Sanctimonius governor #ingrate”.

The Former US President was criticised by voices on the right for the insults hurled at Mr DeSantis on the weekend (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

The insult was criticised by many commentators on the right. “DeSantis is an extremely effective conservative governor who has had real policy wins and real cultural wins,” the conservative pundit Matt Walsh wrote on Twitter. “Trump isn’t going to be able to take this one down with a dumb nickname. He better have more than that up his sleeve.”

He added: “Also, nice job launching your public attack against the most popular conservative governor in America three days before the midterms.”

Trump had previously limited himself to more roundabout attacks on his potential rival. When Joe O’Dea, a Republican Senate candidate in Colorado, said that he would prefer someone other than Trump as the 2024 nominee, and mentioned DeSantis and others, Trump wrote that “MAGA doesn’t Vote for stupid people with big mouths”.

DeSantis then endorsed O’Dea, a move Trump referred to as “a big mistake.” DeSantis, for his part, has suggested that he ought to have been more critical of Trump for locking down the country at the start of the pandemic.

A recent New York Times poll saw Mr Trump hold a 47 per cent to 28 per cent advantage over Mr DeSantis as the GOP’s top choice. Octavio Jones/Getty Images/AFP

Yesterday (Sunday) the two men were holding separate events in Florida. Trump’s people “did not invite Ron, which I do think was stupid”, an unnamed Republican consultant told Politico. “Why not try and avoid the appearance of the fight? But in their defence, I don’t know that he would have come even if he was invited.”

Another unnamed strategist said Trump was “Dr Frankenstein coming to Florida to try and kill the monster that has gotten out of control. It’s a fight over control. I think he [Trump] has picked his enemy. In his mind, they are running against each other.”

The hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin, a key Republican donor who has given more than dollars 60 million to Republican candidates, told the website that he would support DeSantis over Trump if the governor decided to seek the nomination.

Trump “did a lot of things really well and missed the mark on some important areas,” Griffin said. “For a litany of reasons, I think it’s time to move on to the next generation.”

THE TIMES