‘Hardly greatness there’

DeSantis has yet to announce whether he’s running for the 2024 GOP nomination, but his well-publicized book tour, media blitz and reports he’s putting a campaign staff together all indicate an imminent announcement.

Since entering the race himself in November, Trump has slammed DeSantis repeatedly as “disloyal” and has referred to him as “DeSanctimonious.”

He also repeated the

nickname “Meatball Ron” in a post insisting he would never call DeSantis that.

This year Trump has gotten personal as he posted a photo purported to be of DeSantis as a teacher in the early 2000s partying with underage students and suggesting that DeSantis could become the subject of allegations about this personal life.

Other than occasional statements that “I don’t spend my time trying to smear other Republicans,” DeSantis has avoided taking on Trump directly.

But in commenting Monday on a possible Trump indictment in New York, he repeated the allegations about “paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence.”

In an interview this week with British journalist Piers Morgan, DeSantis also differentiated himself from Trump with some mild criticism.

“The way we run the government, I think, is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board, and I think that’s something that’s very important,” DeSantis said.

He added of Trump’s nicknames, “I don’t know how to spell the sanctimonious one. … It’s not important for me to be fighting with people on social media.”

Trump exploded on his Truth Social website, posting a long attack on DeSantis’ record and pointing out Florida’s high COVID death and crime rates.

“HARDLY GREATNESS THERE!” Trump wrote. “The fact is, Ron is an average governor but by far the best in the country in one category, Public Relations,

where he easily ranks Number One. … But it is all a Mirage.”