WATCH: Trump Mocks Florida Gov. Ron ‘DeSanctimonious’ While Bragging About 2024 Polling at Rally
Of all the hints, innuendo, and taunts from Donald Trump suggesting he’s running for president again in 2024, perhaps none have been as definitive as the fact he’s now mocking potential primary opponents from a rally stage.
He singled out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and took a light swipe at Texas Sen. Ted Cruz while he was at it.
During his remarks in Latrobe, Pennsylvania on Saturday, Trump brought up his poll numbers, saying they’re the highest he’s ever had. Directing the crowd’s attention to the screen he covered various poll results, starting with the possible 2024 nominees.
“We’re winning big, big, big in the Republican party for the nomination like nobody’s ever seen before,” said Trump as the numbers went on screen.
“There it is, Trump at 71. Ron DeSanctimonious at 10 percent,” said Trump to almost no crowd reaction, swatting at DeSantis before taking a shot at former VP Mike Pence. “Mike Pence at 7 – oh Mike Pence doing better than I thought.”
He solicited some booing from the crowd for former Republican Liz Cheney, then got to Cruz.
“Ted Cruz is doing a good job, by the way. He didn’t like me for a while but we got to be friends, right? Could’ve put him on the Supreme Court,” said Trump. “If I’d put him on the Supreme Court — you know the nicest thing with Ted? Because he’s, you know, a tough cookie, and he’s controversial. If I’d put him on the Supreme Court I would have had 100% of the people in the Senate voting in favor, to move him out. Even the Democrats would’ve voted for him. Okay? But he’s great and he’s smart and he’s good.”
Cruz and DeSantis have the broadest appeal among Trump’s core MAGA voters, and DeSantis also pulls support from less Trumpy parts of the Republican party, making him a formidable and credible threat to the wounded ex-president.
There’s no other rationale required to explain this, the psychology isn’t too complex with Trump. These are candidates who can hurt him. He wants to isolate and destroy now before they get any stronger.
Cruz of course was one of the last holdouts in Trump’s first Republican primary, and the fighting between the two was bitter and, on Trump’s part at least, well in the gutter.
DeSantis has something that Trump tries to lay claim to but has a hard time selling: a popular and successful career.
Trump’s nicknames for people are something in which he takes great pride for some reason. He designated Cruz “Lyin’ Ted”, which you’d think wouldn’t be a top selling point for a Supreme Court Justice. But that’s the frame he used to insult Cruz on Saturday.
Then he rolled out the new “DeSanctimonious” nickname.
Slapping the governor as being elitist, high-brow, or as someone trying to act superior to Trump was always going to be a key strategy against DeSantis for Trump. He wouldn’t be able to spar with DeSantis on policy grounds or details, so he has to make the governor’s knowledge, experience, and accomplishments seem like a negative.
Whether it will work against the popular Republican governor who has been solidifying his own base throughout the pandemic in which Trump embraced Democrat-favored lockdown policies remains to be seen.
Watch the clip above, via C-SPAN.
