On Saturday (January 28), former President Donald Trump noted that he would consider Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ (R) potential bid to be President “a great act of disloyalty.”
The former President made his comments while he was on the campaign trail visiting New Hampshire and South Carolina, the first two states to vote in the primary calendar.
Trump’s visit to the states comes after he had a quieter-than-expected start to his reelection campaign, which he announced on November 15, 2022.
Despite launching his reelection campaign more than two months ago, Trump hasn’t conducted any large-scale rallies that were indicative of his 2016 and 2020 campaigns.
However, while in South Carolina and New Hampshire, the former President announced his leadership teams for the respective states.
Following his speech in South Carolina, Trump sat down for an interview with the Associated Press. During the interview, Trump didn’t hold back his criticism of DeSantis — considered his biggest rival in the Republican primaries, who currently holds the second spot in polls.
Trump referenced DeSantis’s position in these polls, saying that if DeSantis chose to run, that would be “fine,” adding, “I’m way up in the polls.”
Trump also noted that DeSantis would do what he wanted to but explained his belief it “would be a great act of disloyalty because… I got him in.”
The former President asserted DeSantis “had no chance” of becoming Florida’s Governor because “his political life was over,” a sentiment he has repeated while claiming his endorsement of DeSantis in 2018 was the reason DeSantis currently occupied Florida’s Governor Mansion.
