Ron DeSantis rips Donald Trump’s Israel comments

In New Hampshire to officially file for the state’s GOP Primary, Ron DeSantis attacked Donald Trump over recent comments the former President made about Israel’s lack of readiness for Hamas attacks last weekend.

“Now’s not the time to be doing, like what Donald Trump did, attacking Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, attacking Israel’s defense minister, saying somehow that Hezbollah were very smart. We need to all be on the same page, now’s not the time to air personal grievances about an Israeli Prime Minister. Now’s the time to support their right to defend themselves to the hilt,” DeSantis told reporters.

Trump described Hezbollah as “very smart” during remarks in West Palm Beach on Wednesday, while contending Netanyahu “let us down.” During an interview the same day with Fox News Radio, Trump said the veteran Prime Minister wasn’t “prepared” for attacks over the weekend.

Though the Governor does not manage his X account personally, there was a post condemning Trump’s comments late Wednesday evening.

“Terrorists have murdered at least 1,200 Israelis and 22 Americans and are holding more hostage, so it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as ‘very smart.’ As President, I will stand with Israel and treat terrorists like the scum that they are,” DeSantis posted.

The Governor has a number of campaign stops Thursday afternoon in New Hampshire, it’s likely he will continue to attack the former President for insufficiently supporting Israel.

However, it’s an open question as to whether the new line of criticism will change an increasingly familiar trend of DeSantis falling in Granite State polls.

According to the Race to the White House polling average, his 11% is good for third place, behind Trump (46%) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (15%).

But other polls have shown Haley further ahead in the battle for second. A USA Today/Boston Globe/Suffolk Poll released last week showed her with 19%, nearly doubling DeSantis’ 10%.

Earlier this week, he said he’s ready to compete in the “very volatile” battle in the first-in-the-nation GOP Primary.

“We’ve laid the groundwork, and that’s what we did over the summer. And then now that we’re in the fall, we’re going to be in New Hampshire a lot. So, I think you’re going to see a lot of activity for us. You want to peak in New Hampshire, at the end of the year, the beginning of next year. You don’t want to peak in the summer before,” DeSantis said on the “Good Morning New Hampshire” radio show.