Trump is officially no longer buddies with Ron DeSantis.
The jabs were annoying but to be expected to this point.
Now, however, Trump is trying to destroy the man with vicious attacks, even complimenting Democrats over DeSantis.
Unfortunately for Trump, it is not working as he had hoped.
Bad Tactic
First and foremost, it is just a bad tactic to tear another leading candidate like this. I realize he wants to win but tearing down someone that is widely considering the future of the party is just bad for business.
Not only that, but Trump is attacking a man he endorsed and became friends with, but he wants that office more than anything else.
He and DeSantis would have made a formidable team, but Trump wants no part of second place.
To that point, Trump went for the throat during his Iowa rally and in a video he released this week to continue the assault against DeSantis.
During his Iowa rally, Trump stated, "You have to remember, Ron was a disciple of Paul Ryan, who is a RINO loser who currently is destroying Fox [News] and would constantly vote against entitlements.
"But Ryan, Paul Ryan is a big reason Mitt Romney … lost his election. And to be honest with you, Ron reminds me a lot of Mitt Romney, so I don't think you're going to be doing so well here."
On his plane traveling to Iowa, Trump told the media, "He was dead as a dog, he was a dead politician. He would have been working perhaps for a law firm or doing something else."
He also stated wished he had never endorsed DeSantis, stating, "Yeah maybe, this guy was dead. He was dead as a doornail. … I might say that," reports Politico.
That is actually not true, as the polls in Florida were back and forth both before and after Trump endorsed DeSantis.
You would think that Trump would be happy to have endorsed someone that is killing it right now, but that is far from the case. There is a green streak in Trump right now that is taking over his campaign, and there is a lot of pushback.
After Trump put out a video doing another hit job on DeSantis, even Trump allies had had enough.
Trump stated, "For those of you that didn't notice, Florida was doing great long before Ron DeSanctus got there. People are fleeing from New York to Florida and other places because of high taxes and out-of-control crime. It's really bad. Not because of the Governor," according to Fox News.
"Florida was doing fantastically. You had a governor named Rick Scott who did a very good job. Even Charlie Crist, a Democrat, did a good job, but he had very good numbers.
"Sunshine and ocean are very alluring. It's not too hard to work with those factors. So just remember Florida was doing really well long before Ron DeSanctus got there."
Seth Weathers, the CEO of Freedom Speaks Up, stated, "Whoever helped Trump create this (even if you're a friend of mine), should be fired. Also, Trump should fire himself for participating in this."
Grabien founder Tom Elliott, added, "Remember when your administration was mad DeSantis re-opened Fla. during Covid?"
DeSantis, as usual, has declined to comment, insisting that he will not tear down fellow Republicans for personal gain.
