Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty/Reuters
The battle of Ron and Don officially came to an ignominious end on Sunday afternoon, with the Florida governor abandoning his presidential bid and endorsing his onetime rival on the way out. Tail between his legs, Ron DeSantis acknowledged in his video message that though he’d had his “disagreements” with the former president, it was “clear” that Donald Trump was a “superior” option to President Joe Biden.
The concession was a far cry from the trash-talking DeSantis once indulged in behind the scenes at the height of his nascent campaign. But although the governor reportedly ranted privately about the “moron who has no business running for president,” he only rarely feinted at publicly attacking Trump, preferring to keep his swipes blunted and bloodless.
That didn’t stop Trump from unleashing broadside after broadside at what was once his biggest threat on the trail to the Republican nomination. The former president assailed DeSantis both in public and privately as “overrated, disloyal, and a know-nothing,” a friend told Vanity Fair last year. DeSantis met Trump’s various insults, jibes, and snark-laden nicknames with feeble comebacks, insisting as part of an ostensible high-road strategy that they were “juvenile,” “phony,” and actually helping boost his profile with voters somehow.