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President Trump released a statement Thursday night, calling into question Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s loyalty to him. His latest remarks come as Gov. DeSantis has not quite put to bed rumors that he may run for president in 2024.
In the statement, he criticized NewsCorp, the news media conglomerate that owns Fox and the Wall Street Journal. The 45th president wrote that the outlets are “all in for Governor Ron DeSanctimonious” after the outlets published pieces painting the governor as the new “leader” of the GOP.
Tensions between Trump and DeSantis have been on the rise, especially since DeSantis debated his since-defeated opponent, Democrat Charlie Crist, in late October.
Crist asked DeSantis, “Why don’t you look in the eyes of the people of the state of Florida and say to them, if you’re reelected, you will serve a full four-year term as governor? Yes or no?”
DeSantis responded with a long moment of silence, not answering Crist’s question but instead pivoting, saying, “I know that Charlie is interested in talking about 2024 and Joe Biden, but I just want to make things very, very clear. The only worn-out, old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.”
In the days leading up to the Nov. 8 election, friction could be felt after Trump nicknamed the Florida governor “Ron DeSanctimonious.” However, the 45th president later told Floridians at a rally in Miami to get behind the governor when they went to the polls. As the mainstream media continued to pit the two against each other, Trump publicly announced that he’d voted to reelect Gov. DeSantis following his casting a ballot in Palm Beach, Florida.
In his statement on Thursday, President Trump cited Gov. DeSantis’s recent response when asked if he would seek the presidency in 2024, where he said, “I’m only focused on the Governor’s race, I’m not looking into the future.” Issuing his own reply, Trump said, “Well, in terms of loyalty and class, that’s really not the right answer.”
