Ron DeSantis uses ‘full armor of God’ to repel ‘DeSanctimonious’ diss

Former President Donald Trump has been ripping Florida’s Governor as “Ron DeSanctimonious” for a year now.

But in comments in Iowa Friday, Ron DeSantis revealed that he exulted in a passage from Ephesians and repelled Trump’s trashing with the “full armor of God.”

“Look to Ephesians Chapter Six: You want to exercise leadership in the face of this type of fire, put on the full armor of God. That’s what you need to do, to stand strong and to do what’s right. And when you do that, none of this stuff ends up being effective,” DeSantis said before ridiculing Trump’s nickname for him.

“You know, you don’t see me indulging in that when I’m called. I don’t even know what that name means, quite frankly, but it’s fine. Quite frankly, I’m quite confident the former President couldn’t spell it if he (were) put to the test,” DeSantis argued.

The Governor maintains the name doesn’t bother him, as he is still asked about it even after all this time.

During a July interview conducted by supporter and surrogate Josh Kimbrell of South Carolina, he said he was still flummoxed when Trump called him “Ron DeSanctimonious.”

“I still haven’t figured out what it actually means,” DeSantis said on The Morning Answer radio show.

DeSantis had previously said he “liked” the nickname despite Trump’s patently pejorative intent.

“I don’t know how to spell the sanctimonious one. I don’t really know what it means, but I kind of like it; it’s long, it’s got a lot of vowels,” DeSantis told friendly interviewer Piers Morgan this spring. “We’ll go with that, that’s fine.”

“Call me whatever you want, just as long as you also call me a winner,” DeSantis added.

DeSantis has responded to Trump’s attacks in various ways, including saying in June they’re “petty” and “juvenile” and “not what voters want,” after Trump called him “Rob DeSanctimonious” and lampooned the Governor’s inconsistent pronunciation of his own name.”

Trump gave DeSantis the nickname during a rally in November 2022, and since then, “DeSanctimonious” and “DeSanctus” have been the former President’s favored antagonistic appellations for his former political ally.

DeSantis has used “the full armor of God” before as a means to rally social conservative audiences, meanwhile, but never in the context of responding to Trump’s insults.

“Some people ask me, how do you become a good leader? Well, one of the first things you need to do is put on the full armor of God,” DeSantis said at the Pray, Vote, Stand conference.

DeSantis has also used the phrase at the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference, the 2023 Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference, and other events.