Former President Donald Trump, who has announced he will run for president in 2024, is not happy about the prospect of facing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in the race.
“When I heard he might run, I thought it was disloyal,” Trump told reporters Saturday.
Trump sought to take credit for DeSantis’ ascension to the governor’s office and questioned polls showing DeSantis beating him in several early key states.
DeSantis has been in the governor’s office since 2019, and won again in November by nearly 20 percentage points.
A poll published Thursday by the University of New Hampshire showed Trump trailing DeSantis by 12 percentage points among voters in the state’s GOP presidential primary.
“He’s not going to be the leader, I voted for him,” Trump said, according to Politico.
Trump also took issue with DeSantis’ approach to COVID-19, accusing the governor’s team of “trying to rewrite history.”
“There are Republican governors who don’t shut down their states,” Trump said, according to CNN. “Florida is closed for a long time.”
However, DeSantis’ handling of COVID-19 is exactly what earned him praise from the right.
In April 2020, DeSantis became one of the last governors in the country to order a state lockdown after speaking with Trump, according to NPR. But in September of that year, he vowed not to extend restrictions, ordered the reopening of bars and restaurants in the country (against guidance from public health officials), and banned fines for those who refuse to wear masks or maintain social distancing.
Florida’s governor ordered schools to reopen for in-person learning in August 2020 despite rising cases of COVID-19.
DeSantis, in recent months, has questioned the effectiveness of the life-saving COVID-19 shot, given a platform to vaccine skeptics, and even proposed a permanent ban on the COVID-19 vaccine.
Trump is also preparing for a challenge from other Republicans, including former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who is also the US ambassador to the United Nations in his administration.
“I talked to her for a while, I said, ‘Look, you know, go carefully if you want to run,'” Trump said, adding that Haley had previously said she wouldn’t run in 2024 if she meant it. challenge Trump.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that he is also mulling a run.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Vice President Mike Pence are also thought to be considering a presidential bid.
This weekend Trump held events in South Carolina and New Hampshire, marking his first campaign appearance since announcing his candidacy in November.
“Now I’m angrier and I’m more committed than ever,” he said.