WASHINGTON - A fund-raising group supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ potential run for the US presidency on Sunday launched its first attack on leading rival Donald Trump, questioning the former president’s allegiance to his fellow Republicans.

“Trump should fight Democrats, not lie about Governor DeSantis,” the advertisement stated.

“What happened to Donald Trump?”

Former president Trump launched a bid for the 2024 Republican nomination in November and polls show he is leading the field of declared and as-yet undeclared candidates.

Mr DeSantis, who is expected to launch a run, is in second position in polls.

Never Back Down, the Super PAC (political action committee) backing Mr DeSantis, released the ad, entitled “Fight Democrats, not Republicans,” online and on Fox News Sunday.

It begins with a reference to Trump’s legal troubles in New York.

“Donald Trump has been attacked by a Democrat prosecutor in New York. So why is he spending millions attacking the Republican governor of Florida?“

Trump pleaded not guilty in Manhattan on April 4 to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush-money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels.

He was questioned on Thursday in a separate US$250 million (S$330 million) business fraud lawsuit brought by the state’s Attorney-General.

Make American Great Again, the major Super PAC aligned with Trump, has already attacked Mr DeSantis in ads.

Its latest release on Friday referenced a Daily Beast report that Mr DeSantis ate chocolate pudding with his fingers while on a flight from Tallahassee to Washington in 2019.

“DeSantis has his dirty fingers all over senior entitlements, like cutting Medicare, slashing Social Security, even raising our retirement age,” the ad said.

“Tell Ron DeSantis to keep his pudding fingers off our money.”

A Reuters/Ipsos poll in early April showed 48 per cent of Republicans saying they want Trump to be their party’s presidential nominee in 2024, with 19 per cent supporting Mr DeSantis. REUTERS