This post has been updated since it was originally published to include recent facts
Donald Trump has once again slammed potential 2024 contender Ron DeSantis, who has yet to announce a presidential run, while on board his jet to South Carolina on Saturday, January 28th, telling reporters that he thought the Florida governor potentially running against him would be “very disloyal” to him.
“I consider that very disloyal,” he told reporters, according to CNN. “But it’s not about loyalty – but to me it is, it’s always about loyalty – but for a lot of people it’s not about loyalty.”
He had a very different response when he heard that Nikki Haley, who served as the 116th and first female Governor of South Carolina between 2011 and 2017, was considering launching a 2024 presidential bid. "I talked to her for a little while, I said, 'Look, you know, go by your heart if you want to run,'" Trump said. "She’s publicly said that ‘I would never run against my president, he was a great president,'" he continued, adding that he told Haley that she "should do it."
In the same interview, Trump also took aim at DeSantis and his team's claims about their response to the Covid-19 pandemic, saying they are "trying to rewrite history." Although DeSantis did shut bars and nightclubs and urge people not to gather in public places in March 2020, he went against the advice of federal government health officials and reopened them by September 2020. Trump told reporters: "There are Republican governors that did not close their states. Florida was closed for a long period of time."
Donald Trump Previously Said He'll 'Handle' Ron DeSantis If He Runs Against Him
Trump issued a warning to DeSantis on The Water Cooler podcast on Monday, January 16th, as he said that he would “handle” the Florida governor if he decided to run against him for the 2024 GOP nomination. Yikes! The 76-year-old twice-impeached former president appeared on the conservative podcast to give his opinions on the prospect of DeSantis, 44, running against him, and said: “So now I hear he might want to run against me. So we’ll handle that the way I handle things.”
Trump today on Desantis: “I got him elected, pure and simple. And there was no reason to go wild about endorsing him .. So, now I hear he might want to run against me. So, we’ll handle that the way I handle things.” pic.twitter.com/rBBYyUtnNW
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 16, 2023
Just before he made the above statement, he once again claimed that he was the one responsible for DeSantis winning the governor’s race back in 2018, saying, "I got him elected, pure and simple. And there was no reason to go wild about endorsing him."
Social Media Reactions To Trump's Comments
As expected, Trump's comments were met with a variety of different reactions on social media, with many Twitter users wanting to know exactly what he meant when he said he would "handle" things. "'The way I handle things…' So like, have Michael Cohen write DeSantis a check for $130k or…?" one Twitter user commented. "So, does that mean Trump will blackmail a leader of another country to announce an investigation on DeSantis?" asked another, while another simply said, "Sounds like a threat."
"Hmm… How he handles things? Is DeSantis going to fall out of a window? Will Trump get his hate groups to go after him? Or just give him a check and write it off on his taxes?" asked another. "'The way I handle things.' Is he saying DeSantis might need to stay away from windows?" questioned another. "He's going to leak a lot of dirt on him if he announces he's running," speculated another. "'The way I handle things' is primarily whining and crying on Truth Social," quipped another.
"And now it begins, the battle over #MAGA. It’s going to be something to see. #Trump won’t be afraid to go after DeSantis. But there's a new sheriff in town with DeSantis. #GOP," commented one Twitter user. "Accusations that Trump uses blackmail are apparently true. 'I will tell you things about him that won’t be very flattering… I know more about him than anybody other than perhaps his wife, who is really running his campaign,'" wrote another, quoting a comment he made to the Wall Street Journal last year, while another user commented: "I wonder what dirt he has on him, that’s usually the way he handles things."
Will DeSantis Run For President?
The 46th governor of Florida has not officially announced whether he will challenge Trump for the Republican presidential ticket, despite things currently looking good for him in the polls. According to a YouGov poll of 413 Republicans three days after the 2022 midterm elections, 42% of respondents said they would rather have DeSantis as the GOP's 2024 nominee, with only 35% saying they preferred Trump.
However, despite not making any official announcements, DeSantis has hinted that it might be something he is considering. The fact that he is planning to release his first autobiography – The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival – on February 28th appears to be one hint that he's considering running, as is the fact that he wouldn’t commit to serving a full four-year term as governor. *Very interesting!*
Although the former POTUS has blasted DeSantis on several occasions in public, giving him the nickname "Ron DeSanctimonious" during a rally back in November and calling him an "average Republican governor with great Public Relations" on social media, DeSantis has kept quite a dignified silence. It doesn’t look like he has the same attitude to trash-talking his opponents (or potential opponents) as Trump does, as he simply told people to "chill out" about the prospect of a GOP civil war between them while at a press conference in November last year.
