Trump deepens attacks on DeSantis as he inches towards 2024 comeback bid
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Mr Donald Trump views Mr Ron DeSantis as his chief rival in a potential 2024 GOP presidential primary field.
PHOTOS: AFP
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NEW YORK – Former president Donald Trump escalated his rivalry with Mr Ron DeSantis, warning that he would expose damaging information if the Florida governor were to challenge him for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“If he runs, he could hurt himself very badly,” Mr Trump said in an interview on Monday with Fox News and other outlets. “I would tell you things about him that won’t be very flattering – I know more about him than anybody, other than, perhaps, his wife.”
The threat is a familiar move from Mr Trump’s playbook to thwart potential opponents. It is also the latest sign that the former president views Mr DeSantis as his chief rival in a potential 2024 GOP presidential primary field. Polls show Mr DeSantis as the strongest challenger to Mr Trump for the nomination should they both run.
“I don’t know if he’s running,” Mr Trump said in the interview. “I think the base would not like it, I don’t think it would be good for the party.”
Voters were casting ballots in Tuesday’s consequential midterm elections as that part of Mr Trump’s interview was released.
In Florida, Mr DeSantis won a second term as governor, beating Democratic challenger Charlie Crist by a tally of 59 per cent to 40 per cent in the third most populous state in the United States, according to Associated Press, with an estimated 88 per cent of votes counted.
A message left with Mr DeSantis’s campaign was not immediately returned.
Mr Trump’s remarks in the interview marked his strongest public broadside to date against Mr DeSantis. On Saturday, the former president flashed poll numbers on a screen showing him dominating a potential 2024 GOP presidential field and referred to the governor as “Ron DeSanctimonious”.
US voters are casting their verdict on Democrats’ governance and deciding whether to hand control of Congress to Republicans for the second half of President Joe Biden’s term. A GOP takeover would usher in a new era of a divided government.
In an interview with NewsNation that aired on Tuesday, Mr Trump said he deserves all the credit if the Republicans gain control of Congress. But if Democrats maintain control, it is someone else to be blamed.
“Well, I think if they win, I should get all the credit,” Mr Trump told NewsNation. “And if they lose, I should not be blamed at all. But it will probably be just the opposite.”
Americans say the economy is their No. 1 priority. The two parties competing for their votes have been painting dramatically different pictures of its current state of health.
Republicans, who need to pick up just a handful of seats to take control of Congress, have put soaring prices front and centre in their campaign and pinned the blame on Mr Biden and his party.
Inflation – which, along with the economy in general, regularly tops the lists of voter concerns
Democrats struggled to deliver a consistent message on the economy.
At times, they promoted consumer cost savings on prescription drugs and health insurance from Mr Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, pounded away at oil company profiteering with threats of a windfall profits tax, and seized on statements from some GOP leaders threatening to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits. BLOOMBERG
