Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump.
Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images and Scott Eisen/Getty Images
Trump said thinking of mean nicknames for Ron DeSantis is “very unimportant” to him.
But the former president just can’t stop himself from writing Truth Social posts about DeSantis.
Over the weekend, Trump made at least 10 posts about DeSantis, culminating in a rage-filled rant.
If former President Donald Trump is trying to make it look like he isn’t bothered by Ron DeSantis, his Truth Social feed this weekend told a very different story.
Over the weekend, Trump’s Truth Social profile was filled with post after post about DeSantis, the governor of Florida and Trump’s main rival in the GOP.
On Saturday, Trump kicked off his DeSantis-posting spree of at least 10 posts, by Insider’s count.
The first was to insult DeSantis by writing that he thought it was “totally inappropriate to use the word ‘meatball’ as a moniker for Ron” — in the process making sure thousands more people saw the nickname.
He then posted three separate messages lauding his own poll numbers and bragging about being ahead of DeSantis.
Trump did take a breath to post about Andrea Bocelli singing at Mar-a-Lago. But he went right back to DeSantis after that, branding him a “RINO in disguise.”
In a post from Sunday, Trump unloaded on the Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post, accusing it of being “Fake News” and writing a “puff piece” about DeSantis. He claimed DeSantis is “getting CLOBBERED in the polls,” in comparison to himself.
“DeSantis is a RINO who is trying to hide his past. I don’t read the New York Post anymore. It has become Fake News, just like Fox & WSJ!” Trump wrote, naming two other prominent Murdoch outlets.
In another post from Sunday, Trump ranted about DeSantis and Charles Koch — the conservative billionaire behind a network of donors that may be shifting its support from Trump to his rivals.
“Ron DeSanctimonious is for Globalist Club For NO Growth, and Open Borders Charles Koch. We want AMERICA FIRST, NOT AMERICA LAST!!!” Trump wrote.
By Sunday night, Trump had made at least 10 different posts attacking DeSantis.
DeSantis did not appear to have acknowledged Trump’s attacks on either of his Twitter accounts, which would be in keeping with his stated strategy of not engaging with insults from the former president.
The Truth Social spree came after Trump tried to appear unbothered by DeSantis. On February 13, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he doesn’t spend much time thinking about his rival at all, as Insider’s Kimberly Leonard reported.
“All of the Fake News is reporting that I spend large amounts of my time coming up with a good ‘nickname’ for Ron DeSanctimonious, who is obviously going to give the presidential ‘thing’ a shot,” Trump wrote. “They are all 100% wrong, I don’t even think about it — A very unimportant subject to me!!!”
Trump was refuting a February 12 report from The New York Times, which reported that he’s been privately workshopping new nicknames for the governor like “Meatball Ron” and “Shutdown Ron.”
However, Trump in November did give DeSantis the moniker “Ron DeSanctimonious,” which appears to have stuck.
It’s clear Trump sees DeSantis as a real threat
Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis.
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Though DeSantis has not declared a 2024 bid of his own, the two are on a collision course for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. DeSantis has thus far refrained from insulting Trump — and in November told people to “chill out” about the prospect of a GOP civil war between them.
But Trump has for months been ranting about DeSantis on social media and in interviews and trying various lines of attack to undermine his would-be 2024 rival. Trump has also cautioned DeSantis — vowing in January to “handle” him if he were to attempt a 2024 bid.
Trump has further branded him “average” and “very disloyal,” claimed that DeSantis cried in front of him while asking for an endorsement in 2018, and took credit for getting DeSantis elected governor.
Representatives for Trump and DeSantis did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.