Former President Donald Trump called for Ron DeSantis to be re-elected over the weekend, even amidst reported tension between the two Republican leaders.
Trump was speaking at a Save America rally in Miami, Florida, to a crowd of MAGA hat-donning, American flag-waving Floridians.
“The people of Florida are going to re-elect the wonderful, the great friend of mine, Marco Rubio to the United States senate. And you’re going to re-elect Ron DeSantis as the governor of your state. And you’re going to elect an incredible slate of true MAGA warriors to congress, many of whom are here right now.”
The endorsements come just days before Election Day in Florida, where both Rubio and DeSantis are on the ballot.
There has been reported tension between the Trump and DeSantis camp. During a Pennsylvania rally earlier in the weekend, Trump took a shot at the Florida governor, calling him “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
Trump was listing the approval numbers of well-known Republicans who could potentially challenge him in 2024, “We’re winning big in the Republican Party for the nomination like nobody’s ever seen before. There it is, Trump at 71%, Ron DeSanctimonious at 10%, Mike Pence at 7, oh, Mike is doing better than I thought… Liz Cheney there’s no way she’s at 4%. There’s no way. There’s no way. But we’re at 71 to 10 to 7 to 4.”
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The origin of the tension goes back to a DeSantis endorsement of Colorado Republican Senate candidate Joe O’Dea. O’Dea had been a vocal critic of Trump, but the Florida governor still gave the endorsement. Trump responded to the move on Truth Social, “A BIG MISTAKE”.
While there have been rumors the two men might run on the same ballot, this does not seem to be playing out in reality. Both DeSantis and Trump are popular in the Republican Party but have not directly and publicly attacked each other, other than Trump’s cryptic “DeSanctimonious” dig.
Some election analysts believe the men are waiting to draw blood in the 2024 GOP nomination race until after the 2022 midterms.
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