Despite Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis having dropped out of the race for the 2024 Republican Party presidential nomination a month ago, top aides to Donald Trump are once again on the warpath against him — and are issuing threats on social media.
Even though DeSantis endorsed Trump, following a bid for the nomination that was moribund from the day he announced, Trump's team can't seem to let any slight from him slide by — and a report on a private call he made to supporters has led to a new round of recriminations and backbiting.
According to the report from the New York Times' Shane Goldmacher, DeSantis recently told supporters that he was disinterested in being Trump's running mate in 2024, while also pointing out that the one-term Trump administration fell far short of its goals.
Specifically, he reportedly complained about "all the baggage Trump has,” and later added, “I was in Congress the first two years when Trump was president. I mean, we didn’t really do what we said we would do. You didn’t see any major immigration, border or any type of legislation. You didn’t see anything with repealing and replacing Obamacare. You didn’t see anything about reining in the bureaucracy. I mean, it was pretty, pretty mundane stuff.”
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Alerted to the NYT report, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung took to X and ranted, "SPECIAL KISS OF DEATH Ron tucked his tail between his legs and he should have scurried off into the shadows of obscurity. Now that he's dipped his high-heeled toes back in the water, he might just find out our shovel can dig a lot deeper."
Senior Trump adviser Jason Miller echoed the threat, writing: "We looked past Rob’s half-hearted endorsement and the bulls--t trip to South Carolina to try to stay relevant, but if his popping off continues, Thor’s hammer will return."
Trump re-election campaign official Chris LaCivita — who recently received the former president's endorsement to be made part of the Republican National Committee's leadership team — rebooted an old smear of DeSantis by posting to social media: "chicken fingers and pudding cups is what you will be remembered for you sad little man."
When a supporter of LaCivita on X replied, "When you break the truce, the war is back on," the Trump official responded, "you seem to be one of the few who understand that."
