Former President Donald Trump’s veiled slur against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis during a Republican summit in his home state appears not to have gone down well with his supporters.
Trump and DeSantis claimed the state as their turf at the Florida Republican Freedom Summit in Kissimmee on Saturday.
While Trump remains the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, DeSantis, who was initially expected to be Trump’s biggest rival after winning a landslide last year, remains a distant second. , has been struggling since the campaign began in May.
Mr. DeSantis’ challenge was clear as President Trump called on stage several Florida senators who had switched their support from Mr. DeSantis ahead of Saturday’s event.
During his speech, President Trump touted his large lead over Republican voters and touted his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
He went on to list several Republican governors who have done a “great job” leading their states during the pandemic, specifically excluding DeSantis and Florida State.
“We’ve done a great job fighting the coronavirus,” President Trump said. “We were never recognized for the work we did. We let Republican governors keep their states open. Many governors did that. South Carolina. Henry McMaster did a great job. South Dakota State did a great job. Tennessee did a great job.” There were a lot of them. They kept them open. ”
As the audience chanted “Florida,” President Trump simply smiled and gave a thumbs up.
After a pause, he said, “Let me just say this: All of the Republican governors have done a much better job than the best Democratic governors. That’s true.”
Others criticized Trump on social media.
#breaking news: President Donald Trump begins naming states that have done a “good job” during the coronavirus pandemic without mentioning Florida, as some in the crowd shout “Florida”
“Florida! Florida!”
“I’ll just say this: All of the Republican governors have done a much better job than the best Democratic governors.” pic.twitter.com/zcApenju13
— Florida Voices (@FLVoiceNews) November 4, 2023
Never Back Down, a super PAC supporting Mr. DeSantis’ candidacy for president, said, “When the crowd criticized Ron DeSantis, who has done a great job fighting the coronavirus, for removing him from the gubernatorial list, Mr. Trump I’m visibly scared,” he wrote in a post to X. , formerly Twitter.
Another DeSantis supporter wrote that Floridians “accused Donald Trump of disrespecting Florida again by removing @RonDeSantis from the list of Republican governors who have done an outstanding job fighting the coronavirus. knew what he was doing and was caught red-handed.”
Another wrote: “This video is truly incredible. Donald Trump only lists Republican states with governors who supported him. And the Florida crowd sees through it.”
The Florida audience laughed as Trump told how DeSantis brought tears to his eyes and described his impressions of DeSantis pleading for support. pic.twitter.com/MpBVCJMvDl
— Asyn (@Acyn) November 4, 2023
Donald Trump’s DeSantis story makes me laugh
But Trump drew laughs when he told the audience how DeSantis begged for his support in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race.
Trump said DeSantis had “tears streaming from his eyes.”
He went on to express his impressions of the governor.
“‘I need your support, sir. I need your support, please. I need your damn support, please.’ So I gave him my support.” he said.
newsweek has reached out to the Trump and DeSantis campaigns for comment via email.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom, finding common ground and finding connections.
