Ron DeSantis (left) and Donald Trump (right).
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images; Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
Gov. Ron DeSantis has slammed Donald Trump for calling Hezbollah “very smart.”
Trump was weighing in on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas at a rally in Florida.
DeSantis said he thought it was absurd that Trump would praise the armed group.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis finally gloved up and went after his onetime mentor, former President Donald Trump, after the latter called the armed group Hezbollah “very smart.”
DeSantis wrote in a Wednesday post on X that “it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as ‘very smart.'”
Trump was weighing in on the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas during a rally in Florida. Trump was also mocking the Biden administration for raising concerns about a possible Hezbollah attack on Israel.
“Two nights ago, I read all of Biden’s security people, can you imagine, national defense people, and they said, ‘Gee, I hope Hezbollah doesn’t attack from the north, because that’s the most vulnerable spot,'” Trump said at his rally.
“I said, ‘Wait a minute.’ You know, Hezbollah is very smart. They’re all very smart,'” he continued.
Pro-Trump accounts on X have since hit back at DeSantis for his criticism of Trump. The Trump War Room, an X account linked to the Trump campaign, said DeSantis had mischaracterized Trump’s remarks on the war.
“President Trump was clearly pointing out how incompetent Biden and his administration were by telegraphing to the terrorists an area that is susceptible to an attack,” read the post, which was published on Wednesday. “Smart does not equal good. It just proves Biden is stupid. And now you look stupid, Ron.”
On Saturday, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, firing thousands of rockets from Gaza. Israel declared a state of war the next day, with officials saying their goal was to vanquish Hamas and take complete control of Gaza.
Yesterday, Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant said Israel’s army plans to “wipe this thing called Hamas, ISIS-Gaza, off the face of the earth.”
DeSantis, who is vying for the Republican presidential nomination with Trump, has rarely criticized his one-time mentor. In fact, the presidential hopeful often shies away from attacking Trump directly.
“It’s a very tough line because so many of the voters DeSantis wants — they like Trump,” Christian Grose, a political science professor at the University of Southern California, told Insider in July.
Trump currently leads DeSantis by over 40% in several recent polls for Republican candidates.
Representatives for DeSantis and Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.