Former President Donald Trump responded to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis entering the 2024 presidential contest while jabbing liberals as “lowlifes and misfits.”
“I’d like to personally congratulate ‘Rob’ DeSanctimonious on finally announcing that he will be entering the race for President of the United States,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“Hopefully he will get the full experience of being attacked by the Marxists, Communists, and Radical Left Lunatics of our Country, without which he will never know the kind of job he is doing. These Lowlifes & Misfits are far worse than the leaders of hostile foreign countries. They must be soundly defeated in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
DeSantis announced his candidacy on Wednesday after filing his official Federal Election Commission forms earlier in the day.
I’m running for president to lead our Great American Comeback. pic.twitter.com/YmkWkLaVDg
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) May 24, 2023
Trump posted the results of an unspecified poll showing him far ahead of DeSantis and other GOP presidential hopefuls. Another graph Trump posted showed him leading President Joe Biden by greater margins than DeSantis.
Trump also shared an attack ad claiming that his endorsement of DeSantis in Florida’s 2018 gubernatorial race saved DeSantis’ political career and landed him in the governor’s office.
The former president had expanded on that argument earlier Wednesday.
“Look, Rob DeSanctimonious came to me asking for help. He was losing badly, by 31 points, to popular Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. He was getting ready to drop out of the race – Ran a terrible campaign!” he wrote.
“Ron told me he had one last chance, my Support & Endorsement, which Putnam, and everyone else, wanted also. I gave it to Ron, and the race was over. In one day, he went from losing badly, to winning by a lot. With 3 LARGE TRUMP RALLIES, he WON THE GENERAL ELECTION in an upset. DISLOYAL!!!”
Trump continued going after the Florida governor, claiming that he had voted to “OBLITERATE SOCIAL SECURITY” and had “FOUGHT HARD AND VOTED FOR A 23% ‘TAX ON EVERYTHING’ SALES TAX.”
“Ron DeSanctus can’t win the General Election (or get the Nomination),” Trump wrote. “He was, and is, a disciple of horrible RINO Paul Ryan, and others too many to mention. Also, he desperately needs a personality transplant and, to the best of my knowledge, they are not medically available yet. A disloyal person.”
Other Republican presidential candidates also had something to say about DeSantis officially launching his campaign.
“Competition breeds strength. Welcome to the race, [Sen. Tim Scott] and [Gov. Ron DeSantis],” entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy posted on Twitter. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott declared his candidacy on Monday.
Competition breeds strength. Welcome to the race, @SenatorTimScott and @GovRonDeSantis. pic.twitter.com/4WPwLANrex
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) May 23, 2023
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, meanwhile, told Fox News that DeSantis is “copying Trump.”
“He needs to be his own person. He needs to get out there and say what he believes, what he thinks. If he’s just going to be an echo to Trump, people will just vote for Trump,” she said.
“I think he’s showing who he is and the fact that he’s just an echo of Trump. I think that’s not what the American people want to see.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.