Former President Donald Trump continues to attack Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is emerging as a possible rival for the Republican primary where a 2024 presidential nominee will be chosen. However, Trump denied calling DeSantis a “meatball.”
“I will never call Ron DeSantis ‘Meatball’ Ron, as the Fake News is insisting I do,” he said on the conservative social media site Truth Social. This to respond to an article in The New York Times that claimed Trump privately calls DeSantis “Meatball Ron,” this as a jibe toward his physical appearance and Italian ancestry.
However, Trump did not skimp on other criticisms of the Republican governor. Trump has also used “Shutdown Ron” to describe DeSantis, in reference to his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Times.
“His beaches and his state were closed for long periods of time, his testing, testing, testing for the China virus didn’t work too well, and his loyalty skills are really weak,” Trump said in his Saturday post.
Trump has launched several attacks on the Florida governor in recent months. Earlier this month, the former president promoted a social media post alleging DeSantis was “grooming high school girls with alcohol” as a teacher when he was in his 20s. That follows reports that he partied with former students at a private school in Georgia 20 years ago.
DeSantis mocked Trump’s publications as slanderous.
Trump announced his campaign for a second term in November, and has typically referred to DeSantis as “Ron DeSanctimonious.” Trump is notorious for using derogatory nicknames for his political opponents.
Trump supporters’ attacks on DeSantis.
Although the former Republican president – who insists he won’t concede defeat in the 2020 election – says he won’t call DeSantis by offensive nicknames. His supporters started a campaign to say that tycoon George Soros, popular for supporting Democratic candidates is now backing DeSantis.
The attack began to leak late last week after Soros spoke Thursday at the International Security Conference in Munich.
“My hope for 2024 is that Trump and Governor DeSantis of Florida will be vying for the Republican nomination. Trump has become a sorry figure, still mourning his loss in 2020,” he said. “Big Republican donors are abandoning him in droves.”
“DeSantis is shrewd, ruthless and ambitious. He is likely to be [the] Republican nominee. This could induce Trump, whose narcissism has become a disease, to run as a third party candidate. That would lead to a Democratic landslide and force the Republican Party to reform,” The Daily Beast noted.
Those statements were quickly seized upon by right-wing portals and media outlets to falsely claim that Soros is backing DeSantis, which has never happened.
“The kiss of death: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis endorsed by George Soros,” Kari Lake wrote on Twitter, sharing a link to an article on the far-right site The Gateway Pundit written by the site’s editor Joe Hoft that falsely claimed that “George Soros has endorsed DeSantis for 2024.”
“When the devil likes you, you might be doing something wrong,” continued The Gateway Pundit article, which has since gone viral in the right-wing media ecosystem. “Earning a recommendation from Soros is not a good thing for DeSantis.”
“George Soros endorses DeSantis for 2024!” country music artist turned Trump world celebrity Travis Tritt tweeted Friday on Truth Social. If that wasn’t enough, he added a surprise emoji.
“I understand George Soros attacking President Trump, but praising DeSantis? Now that’s interesting, don’t you think?” former Trump administration official turned right-wing radio host Sebastian Gorka responded to Soros’ remarks. Gorka drew ire among his MAGA followers, with the post gaining more than 5 thousand likes.