Donna Deegan, a Democrat and former TV news anchor, pulled off a shock upset to win the open mayoral election in the traditionally Republican city of Jacksonville, Florida, Tuesday.
She defeated Daniel Davis, a right-wing candidate backed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who had raised quadruple the money she had.
DeSantis' bloody nose delighted former President Donald Trump, who took to his Truth Social platform on Wednesday morning to use the result to mock DeSantis as a loser.
"Wow! In a big upset, the DeSanctimonious backed Republican candidate for Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, LOST," wrote Trump. "This is a shocker. If they would have asked me to Endorse, he would have won, easily. Too proud to do so. Fools! This is a BIG LOSS for the Republican Party. Remember, 'Rob' only won because of me!!!"
DeSantis, once a key ally of Trump who was first nominated for governor with his unexpected endorsement in 2018, has now become a target of the former president's wrath as he prepares to launch a rival bid for president in 2024.
In addition to portraying him as unfaithful to the GOP for challenging him, Trump and his allies have also attacked DeSantis from the left over his past support for cutting Social Security, as well as mocking a number of his culture war policies like his war against Disney.
Recent polling has shown that DeSantis is the only candidate consistently pulling a double-digit percent of voters against Trump, but that he is stuck at a distant second, with Trump still the heavy favorite in terms of popular support with GOP voters.
