A.G. Gancarski
A Donald Trump advisor is downplaying the former President’s diminishment of Ron DeSantis as “Ron DeSanctimonious” at a rally over the weekend.
Kellyanne Conway painted the picture of a “grateful” DeSantis, noting during Monday’s Fox & Friends that Trump “praised” the Governor at a rally in Miami Sunday.
“They’re on the same team. And Gov. DeSantis probably knows and appreciates and is grateful for the fact that it was President Trump in 2018 in that Primary when DeSantis was at 3% or so against Adam Putnam, President Trump endorsed him in the Primary, he won the Primary,” Conway reflected.
“And then he kept going back to Florida to campaign for him, including the day or two before Election Day,” Conway added. “He won by 32,000 votes. He’s got a lot of time. They’re on the same team.”
Trump offered a glancing statement of endorsement for DeSantis Sunday during a rally for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. The Governor had his own rallies elsewhere, meanwhile.
But the endorsement, delivered very late in the game compared to four years prior when DeSantis campaigned as a Trump acolyte, comes in the wake of the former President’s somewhat more acerbic take on DeSantis at a rally in Pennsylvania Saturday night.
“We’re winning big, big, big in the Republican Party for the nomination like nobody has ever seen before,” Trump said of a potential 2024 Primary Saturday in Pennsylvania, spotlighting a favorable national poll. “There it is, Trump at 71%, Ron DeSanctimonious at 10%.”
DeSantis fans on the Right railed at this sign of disrespect, but few offered any contradiction of the central contention of Trump’s pejorative portmanteau.
Conway has been throwing cold water on DeSantis’ 2024 hopes for some months now.
“He’s a great Governor, he’s fascinating. He could be a two-term, and he’s got a great sense for the culture warrior part too. Ron DeSantis can be the best two-term Governor in Florida in modern history and run for President before he’s 50,” she said in July, touting a straw poll that saw Trump prevail handily.
Trump has claimed he made DeSantis, but evidence piled up the dynamic has frayed, even before the “DeSanctimonious” moment Saturday, raising questions as to how enduring the DeSantis endorsement will be past Tuesday.
Among the purported grievances: DeSantis prematurely committed Trump to speak at the Florida GOP Statesman’s Dinner in 2019; he didn’t close beaches in 2020 despite Trump’s wishes; and the Governor skipped a Trump rally while appearing instead with President Joe Biden in Surfside after the Champlain Tower South collapse.
The former President has said DeSantis would not be a challenge.
“If I faced him, I’d beat him like I would beat everyone else,” Trump told Yahoo Finance.
Trump is still the front-runner in most 2024 Republican Primary polls, but DeSantis is a defined second in surveys, with stronger performances in some states, including Florida.
12 comments
marylou
November 7, 2022 at 9:42 am
More Ron DeSanctimonious’ contributions to Team MAGA: Cruel, inappropriate, and factually wrong with children.
Google: Desantis students, Desantis New York Times students… etc.
Looks like actual grooming. VOTE OUT DESANTIS.
Elliott Offen
November 7, 2022 at 10:13 am
Kellyanne doesn’t know her bung hole from her puckered lips. Trump will insult people one day and then play it off the next. At least the insults to members of the GOP are funny. What do neanderthal GOP voters have to say about this little glitch? The same thing they say about Trump crime spree. Nothing! Ron DeSanctimonious!!!!!!!!!
John R Willis
November 13, 2022 at 8:38 pm
You mean like Kamala calling Joe Biden a RACIST before the election?
It's Complicated
November 7, 2022 at 10:46 am
First, I’m NOT a ‘Never Trump’ guy – voted for him twice (but not in the 2016 Presidential Preference Primary). Trump behaves like a petulant child, has zero decorum, zero class, and is no where near as smart as he thinks he is. By EVERY Biblical measure of character, Trump is a godless man. Nonetheless, from a policy standpoint, he was the better choice for POTUS than Hillary Clinton in 2016 or Joe Biden in 2020 (who are also, by EVERY Biblical measure, godless).
I’d be very hard-pressed to ever vote for Trump again. I sincerely hope the GOP voters don’t nominate him in 2024, because they may be surprised how many true conservative RED blooded voters will skip that race on the ballot in November 2024 if they do.
Davin
November 7, 2022 at 6:48 pm
And we know this how??
Harold Finch
November 8, 2022 at 3:18 pm
Excellent commentray and I agree with you!! Let’s move on from Trump and transition to the next generation of leaders!!
DeSantis 2024!!!
Tiddley Winkerton
November 7, 2022 at 10:50 am
Don, Ron, and Kellyanne are playing quad level chess while the dumb lib media struggles to play checkers. You took the bait a few days prior to midterm elections just like Don, Ron, and Kellyanne wanted you to!!!!!
Florida Man
November 7, 2022 at 11:41 am
I have family who work for the state of Florida in Tallahassee, and it’s widely know that everybody hates Ron DeSantis. Even his fellow Republicans.
He’s known to be a miserable prick of a human being, and that’s why he’s feuded with Rick Scott in the past, and now Trump. How much of a POS do you need to be when even Trump thinks you’re an a-hole?
It's Complicated
November 7, 2022 at 4:26 pm
I have worked in a field that seeks to influence state policy for nearly four decades, and can affirm what Florida Man says contains an element of truth. (Don’t really care if ‘rank and file’ state employees don’t like the Governor, but it does concern me with those in the Select Exempt ranks don’t like or trust the boss). The Governor can be a bully, as can some of his agency heads. They do not tolerate any dissent or difference of opinion from within. That leads to an ‘echo chamber’ environment and poor policy decisions.
DeSantis does not ‘miss it’ all the time, mind you, but on issues that are complex or nuanced, and that his EOG or agency staff know absolutely nothing about, there are few inside of state government with the knowledge to make an informed recommendation, and even fewer who are empowered to make a decision. What should be rudimentary or perfunctory policy decisions at the agency level must be vetted through the EOG, which leads to policy paralysis. Never seen so many senior agency people afraid to do their jobs. Sad to see.
Don’t get me wrong… DeSantis is still a FAR better choice for Governor than Crist, because Crist is one of the most useless politicians I’ve ever known.
Melinda
November 7, 2022 at 8:26 pm
Florida Man, you do not speak for everyone. No, not everyone hates DeSantis. It pisses me off when people like you presume to know what everyone else thinks. Actually most people would vote for DeSantis over Trump. If only Trump was running, it would be Trump. Your the idiot for thinking you know what “everybody thinks”!
Lex Taylor
November 8, 2022 at 9:09 am
Even if they both run, they are on the same team. In my experience, you need to run when you are hot and it’s your time. A lot can happen in 4-6 years in politics. If one runs against the other in the primary it doesn’t mean they are enemies. We’ve been having primaries between party members and friends for 200 years. This is a non-story and media pushing two Republicans to fight against each other.
Mr. Haney
November 10, 2022 at 12:04 pm
Conway lies as much if not more than Trump.
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