Trump will 'continue to hit Ron DeSantis until he is no longer breathing': CNN analyst

Trump will 'continue to hit Ron DeSantis until he is no longer breathing': CNN analyst
Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis (Trump photo via AFP, DeSantis photo via Shutterstock)

A CNN panel discussing Gov. Ron DeSantis' flailing campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination noted that Donald Trump remains relentless in his attacks on the Florida governor.

Speaking with "Inside Politics" host Dana Bash, CNN political analyst Kristen Holmes suggested that the former president seems to want to damage DeSantis' political future irretrievably.

With host Bash pointing out that a decent showing in the Iowa caucuses might be DeSantis' last hope, the CNN analyst admitted Trump's people hinted the former president would continue his vendetta.

"I think that Donald Trump is going to continue to hit Ron DeSantis until he is no longer breathing at all, which is essentially what his advisers have told me," she explained after watching a clip of the former president in Iowa over the weekend.

RELATED: 'Excuse me!' DeSantis gets testy when asked to condemn Trump calling opponents 'vermin'

"When you look at where the poll numbers have gone, it seems actually strange that Donald Trump would still be focused on Ron DeSantis, especially given Nikki Haley's surge. She seems to be climbing in multiple states, but he has remained fixated on Ron DeSantis," she continued.

She then added, "Part of that is likely because of the disloyalty factor that he feels, that he thought he [DeSantis] should have never run and, if he did, he should have called him first to talk to him."

"Clearly, for Donald Trump, things are personal and he wants to see him lose," she concluded.

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President Donald Trump launched a second furious rant against Fox News on Sunday afternoon, hours after a first explosive Truth Social post attacking Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) for an interview the California Democrat gave on the network earlier in the day.

In an evening post, Trump broadened his target beyond Khanna to include comedian Bill Maher, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and the network itself — claiming that "MAGA Republicans, who are actually close to 100% of the Party, hate Fox."

"You could listen to FoxNews all day long, absolutely devour it, but then, when you hear SLEAZEBAGS, like Congressman Ro Khanna, 'a wolf in sheep’s clothing,' LIE, LIE, LIE, AND LIE AGAIN, without any pushback, or competent rebuttal from an anchor, in this case, Jacqui Heinrich, the entire Common Sense dialogue that has been going on all day at Fox is completely obliterated!" Trump wrote.

He also went after "Low Rated Bill Maher" — accusing the network of giving him "credibility" — and "very Low IQ Hakeem Jeffries," who he claimed, "probably hates our Country."

Trump's claim that nearly all Republicans "hate" Fox is predictably undercut by his own party's viewing habits.

A Pew Research Center survey last year found 57% of Republicans regularly get news from Fox — more than double the share who turn to any other source. Pew also found that 56% of Republicans say they trust Fox News, the highest trust rating Fox received from any group and the highest of any of the 30 outlets Pew tested among Republican respondents.

Trump's escalating war with the conservative network that has long served as his most reliable media ally has become a regular occurrence.

Last week, he publicly demanded that Fox executives yank Democratic commentator Jessica Tarlov from "The Five," and complained about anchor Shannon Bream for not pushing back hard enough on a Democratic guest.

The latest post ended with a stark warning: "Hard to win Elections like this!"

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A former top Food and Drug Administration tobacco regulator who served under both Democratic and Republican administrations unloaded on the Trump administration's stunning new policy opening the door to flavored e-cigarettes.

In guidance issued Friday, as President Donald Trump reportedly signed off on a plan to fire FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, the agency said it would stop enforcing rules against illicit vapes and allow products already in advanced stages of review onto the market, according to The New York Times.

Mitch Zeller, a former FDA tobacco chief, ripped the move as a payoff to major tobacco companies that would gut a scientific approval process the agency had previously defended all the way up to the Supreme Court.

“I don’t see how this solves for anything other than a gift to companies that are eligible and allowing illegal products to remain on the market because FDA is going to look the other way,” Zeller told the Times.

The scientific process Zeller referenced was meant to approve vape products shown in studies to help cigarette smokers transition off combustibles without hooking a new generation of nicotine users. The new policy, issued without public comment or rule-making, could allow companies like Reynolds American, Altria, and Juul to stock prime gas-station and convenience-store shelves with flavored vapes.

Public-health authorities have flagged serious risks tied to e-cigarettes, particularly for young users. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that most vapes contain nicotine, a highly addictive chemical that can harm adolescent brain development, and that vape aerosol can contain cancer-causing chemicals and tiny particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs. The U.S. Surgeon General has also warned that youth who vape are up to four times more likely to go on to smoke tobacco.

Reynolds and Altria have been reliable donors to Trump's MAGA Inc. PAC and pet projects, including his planned White House ballroom, according to the Times.

The move follows months of reporting that the White House pressured the FDA to clear flavored vapes, including lobbying tied to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles' former tobacco-industry client. Critics have also flagged the policy as part of a broader pattern of Trump donors scoring favors from his administration.

Right-wing voices erupted Sunday over a report that congressional Democrats had privately floated ousting Virginia's entire state Supreme Court, a long-shot idea that came up during a Saturday call with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) following Friday's ruling that voided the state's Democratic-drawn congressional map.

The Virginia GOP led the charge, accusing Democrats of trying to "pack the court with activist judges who will simply ignore Democrats' violations." The state party called the discussion "totally shameful and dangerous."

Former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer wrote that Democrats' "hypocrisy knows no bounds," while conservative commentator Kyle Becker declared, "All of these people are unhinged. Americans are electing monsters." Conservative pundit Ryan James Girdusky dismissed the entire report: "Now they're writing fan fiction."

Conservative writer Andrew Follett floated his own escalation — suggesting House Republicans could "refuse to seat any Virginia Democrats from such an obviously illegal election" if the gambit moves forward.

GOP strategist Brad Todd zeroed in on Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who claimed she hadn't been briefed on the proposal: "Abby Spanberger has amputated much of her centrist street cred. If she wants to get any back, this is her best shot. She should renounce Jeffries & all this quackery."

Trump adviser Caroline Wren offered a more conflicted reaction, calling the move "categorically insane" — and admitting it's "what I was looking for" from Republicans. "The Democrats are always willing to cross the insane line while the GOP dances around 'democracy,'" she wrote.

Veteran GOP operative Chris LaCivita dismissed the whole thing as performance: "That won't happen — these are discussions meant to calm fears of donors — and the NYTimes willingly plays along."

The reactions come as Jeffries continues to wage what he's called "maximum warfare" against Republican redistricting efforts, and as Trump has escalated personal attacks on the House minority leader in recent weeks.

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