RON GET STANGOED
Trump blasts ‘2024 rival’
SULKING Donald Trump has branded his Republican presidential rival Ron DeSantis “Ron DeSanctimonious”.
The orange-faced ex-US President lashed out following the lacklustre performance of candidates he endorsed in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
He said the rising star was “average” amid speculation Trump’s likely bid for the White House in 2024 is in trouble as Republicans blame him for their worse than expected showing.
DeSantis, 44, was comfortably reelected as Florida governor, putting him in line as a possible contender for the presidency. But Trump said he was “in desperate shape” when running for his first term in 2017 before he endorsed him and “fixed his campaign”.
The former president, 76, said: “Ron had low approval, bad polls, and no money. When I endorsed him, it was as though, to use a bad term, a nuclear weapon went off.”
Trump hinted that he will run again for the presidency, already teasing a big announcement on November 15.
DeSantis has not commented on Trump’s remarks.