Ron DeSantis lost in translation over Donald Trump's 'blood stuff'

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is lost in Trumpistan.

Former President Donald Trump's repeated refrain about illegal migrants "poisoning the blood" of the country has stumped the Florida governor hoping to earn the GOP nomination for president.

"I don't know what this means with the blood stuff, I know people are trying to draw historical allusions," DeSantis said during an appearance on the Fox network when pressed about weighing in on Trump's most recent mention of it. "I don't know if that what's he meant."

His consternation over what Trump meant came a day after fellow presidential nominee Chris Christie shot them down the following day.

“He’s disgusting,” Christie said on CNN’s "State of the Union” Sunday. "What he’s doing is dog-whistling to Americans who feel absolutely under stress and strain from the economy and from the conflicts around the world.”

Most recently on Saturday, Trump, who is lapping his competition to run against President Joe Biden employed the "poison" bit with him during a rally in Durham, New Hampshire before several thousand supporters.

“They're poisoning the blood of our country, ... They’ve poisoned mental institutions and prisons all over the world. Not just in South America, not just the three or four countries that we think about, but all over the world they’re coming into our country from Africa, from Asia," ranted Trump

"All over the world, they are pouring into our country."

The words echoed a published interview with The National Pulse’s editor-in-chief Raheem Kassamin in September.

“Nobody has ever seen anything like we’re witnessing right now. It is a very sad thing for our country; it’s poisoning the blood of our country," before warning, "People are coming in with disease, people are coming in with every possible thing that you can have.”

The comment drew criticism from the White House accusing Trump of utilizing language reserved for "fascists and violent white supremacists."

And Jonathan Greenblatt, who leads the Anti-Defamation League, condemned Trump for the remarks, calling them "racist, xenophobic and despicable."

When pressed for comment on Saturday following the rally, campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung didn't address the remarks and instead turned the focus on what kind of responses U.S. colleges are putting in place over the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The "poisoning the blood of our country" language had not been prepared in Trump's remarks that had been distributed to media prior to Saturday's event, according to Reuters.

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