Trump Seeks to Downplay DeSantis’ Track Record in Florida: ‘Doing Great Long Before’ He Got There

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is seen as a strong governor who has fought for conservative policies and made his state a haven for people fleeing liberal policies.

However, former President Donald Trump insists DeSantis is not that great.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Florida was doing GREAT long before Ron DeSanctus got there. People are fleeing from New York to Florida (and other places) because of high TAXES and out of control CRIME, not because of Governor (thank you President Trump!) DeSanctimonious.”

“Rick Scott did great, and even Charlie Crist had very good numbers. SUNSHINE AND OCEAN, very alluring!!!” he added.

In a separate post, he criticized Fox News for covering a DeSantis event instead of his own as he wrote, “So interesting to watch FoxNews cover the small and unenthusiastic 139 person crowd in Staten Island for DeSantis, but stay as far away as possible from coverage of the thousands of people, many unable to get in, at the Club 47 event in West Palm Beach, Florida.”

He suggested if CNN was “smart” they would “go Conservative ‘All Trump, All the Time,’ like in 2016, and become a Ratings Juggernaut.”

Trump is right sunshine and the ocean are “very alluring!!!”

However, DeSantis has skyrocketed to conservative fame due to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and advancing conservative social policies — admittedly with a good sense of how to get attention for his actions.

Other Republican governors also tried to keep their states open during Covid, and enacted conservative policies, such as Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R). But they do not have the same flare for getting attention and picking fights with the press.

So you can debate how much of the migration to Florida is because of the sunshine or the liberal policies in other states and how much of it is because of DeSantis. Still, it is not as though he has turned out to be a massive disappointment to conservatives.

In light of a potential Republican star entering the 2024 Republican presidential primary, Trump has to try to knock him down a few pegs in the eyes of primary voters.

And if you are a Trump supporter hoping DeSantis does not run, or if he does that the former president can knock him out of the race, you must be wondering if these are the best attacks he has.

Simply calling DeSantis “DeSanctus” or “DeSanctimonious” is childish and looks desperate, as though there are not really other lines of attack.

At least “Lyin’ Ted” was easy to throw around and kind of catchy. It conveyed the message Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was not honest, and people tend not to like liars. But Ron “DeSanctimonious” takes some time to think about. Some people might need to think about what it means to be sanctimonious and whether it is a trait that would bother them, or whether DeSantis has been sanctimonious.

Then there was “DeSanctus,” which looked like a typo, but might be some kind of attempt at a nickname, or trying to dismiss the governor as not important enough to know his name.

If his goal is to diminish DeSantis’ track record, it could be hard. Republicans have been fed a steady diet of news about DeSantis bucking Covid guidance and mask or vaccine mandates while taking on cultural issues. And simply throwing weird nicknames or talking about the state being beautiful probably is not going to be enough to change their perception.