During Donald Trump’s term as president of the United States, he helped senator Ron DeSantis rise to power as the governor of the state of Florida. Many onlookers thought that it was going to be the start of a long friendship. In fact, it seems that this is what Donald himself thought. However, recent rumors suggest that Ron is planning on running against his old friend in the 2024 presidential election. In the wake of these rumors, it seems that Donald is putting some distance between himself and the governor that he helped bring to power. Join Facts Verse as we explore how Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis are cutting all ties amidst feud.
Why Are Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis Feuding?
In early 2022, things started to sour in the relationship between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. Of course, Donald Trump is best known nowadays for the controversial single term that he was the president of the United States. During that term, which lasted from 2016 to 2020, Donald helped Ron DeSantis rise to power. When Donald Trump became president, Ron was a lowly senator doing his meager best to turn the state of Florida red. Donald understandably took an interest in the senator’s cause. Donald used his presidency—and his celebrity—to help turn the people of Florida on Ron’s side. With Donald’s help, Ron became the governor of Florida in 2019. Just recently, in November of 2022, Ron was reelected to serve as Florida’s governor for another term. The politician will remain the governor of Florida through 2027, which many might think would prove pretty great news for former president Donald Trump. However, it seems that Donald and Ron broke up.
As we’ve already touched upon, the public first started noticing the tension between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis in early 2022. The two politicians began publicly spatting over their COVID-19 vaccination status. Donald Trump had no problem admitting to the public that he had received his booster shot. However, Ron was refusing to admit anything more than that he had received his initial vaccination. Of course, it wasn’t really vaccinations that either party was concerned about. Instead, it was public relations. According to Donald Trump, Ron was refusing to admit that he got his booster shot because he didn’t want to turn away the people in his demographic that were against vaccination. There are plenty of people on the sides of both Donald and Ron that are against the COVID-19 vaccination, and the two politicians have done plenty to egg these people, and their concerns, on. Still, Donald has taken pride in his almost hypocritical support of the COVID-19 vaccine.
When Donald Trump called out Ron DeSantis as a coward, Ron defended himself by bringing up the way that Donald handled the COVID-19 pandemic during his final year as president. Donald’s handling of the pandemic has been criticized ad nauseam, and it didn’t mean much to hear these criticisms coming from someone who was so friendly with the president during the time in question. According to Ron, he knew that Donald wasn’t handling the pandemic correctly, and he believes that he should’ve spoken up more about it.
Ron Criticized Donald’s Handling of the Pandemic
Ron DeSantis’ claims that he should’ve spoken up more against Donald Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic during the former president’s last year in office understandably ring disingenuous to many. However, so does everything else about the feud between him and former friend Donald Trump! To make matters even worse, Florida is where Donald Trump calls his home. Donald Trump has several homes across the country, but his mansion in the town of Palm Beach, Florida, is his favorite. Donald likes to consider the state of Florida his own, which makes it all the more poignant that he thought enough of Ron to make him the state’s governor. Donald apparently put quite a bit of trust in Ron DeSantis, though the rift between them keeps growing bigger and bigger. One might imagine that Donald is pretty upset! However, he’s being tactical with his words.
The fact that Donald Trump is being tactical with his words regarding Ron DeSantis may be evocative of just how big of a threat the former president truly considers the governor that he helped bring to power. Normally, Donald Trump doesn’t waste much time in disparaging his competitors in the media. However, he has refused to outright decry Ron DeSantis. That is, except for the occasional spat, like the COVID-19-related one. It seems that Donald is still putting some effort into keeping Ron DeSantis’ fans on his side, though it could be that the gloves are about to come off in this political catfight!
Donald Is Mad at Ron for Not Stepping Down
The heart of the feud between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis is something quite obvious, but also something that has remained largely unspoken. That heart would be the matter of Donald’s upcoming third bid for presidency. After securing the title of president for himself in 2016, Donald Trump attempted to secure a second term in 2020. Infamously, he lost. The president was quick to claim that the election was a sham in the media, which caused a riot.
As soon as Donald Trump finally came to terms with his loss in the 2020 election, him and his team started up plans to run again in 2024. Becoming president again in 2024 seems to be Donald Trump’s main goal at the moment, though Ron DeSantis might be getting in the way of that goal. The real reason that Donald and Ron are feuding is because the governor hasn’t given his word to the former president that he will step down from his own plans to become president.
Having just secured his second term as governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis appears to be on his way up in the world of politics. It stands to reason that a bid for presidency could be in the governor’s future. In fact, it seems that a bid for presidency might be in his immediate future. Murmurs of Ron preparing to enter into the 2024 election have been persistent for some time, and the possibility of the governor running for president seems all the more likely in the wake of his successful reelection. Donald Trump is understandably more scared than ever about his former friend. However, he’s keeping his derogatory comments about him to a minimum because Ron DeSantis has a sizable following.
The Feud Is Causing Problems for the Republican Party
Onlookers in the Republican Party are anxious about the enveloping feud. The feud is liable to cause a rift in the party that will destroy it’s chance of securing the presidential office in the 2024 election. In the wake of Donald’s failure to be reelected, the Republic Party has been somewhat disgraced. Donald’s alleged mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic rubbed many of his supporters the wrong way, and plenty of people blamed this for him not getting reelected in 2020.
The most damaging thing that Donald Trump did to his reputation during his first—and, so far, only—term as president of the United States was claim that the election that saw him lose out on serving a second term was a sham. These claims led to the January 6 riot, which turned more members of the Republican Party against Donald Trump than ever before. The riot also led to Donald Trump losing his Twitter account, which essentially took away his voice.
Donald Trump did a lot of damage to his reputation on his way out the presidential office, but he still has a ton of supporters. Many of these supporters consider themselves to be equally strong supports of Ron DeSantis. If the two politicians really care about the future of the Republican Party, it’s undeniable that they should join forces. However, it’s likely that all they really care about is numero uno.
Donald and Ron May Be Gearing Up for a Showdown
Though Ron DeSantis won the 2022 election, the election was far from being a victory for the Republican Party overall. For the most part, the election saw states turn over from red to blue, or simply remain blue. Whether the future face of the Republican Party ends up being Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, or someone else entirely, it stands to reason that the party is going to have a tough time in the 2024 election.
Donald Trump is said to be fuming over the results of the 2022 election, which is another reason why the former president is so keen to keep and his mouth shut and try not to frighten off Ron DeSantis supporters. Still, if the two really end up going head to head, one can imagine that Donald will change his tune. When the gloves come off, it’s hard to predict who will come out the better between the two.
There are many who believe that Ron DeSantis has no chance of besting Donald Trump in a run for presidency. One such person who supports this case is Megyn Kelly, who was famously never all that pro-Trump during his term as president. Megyn believes that Trump still has a huge number of fans. Although these fans might also be fans of Ron, they don’t believe that it’s Ron’s time to shine just yet.
Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis are feuding, and many believe that the fight could spell doom for the Republic Party in the 2024 election. Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that Donald Trump called Ron DeSantis a coward for not revealing his vaccination status, and that Megyn Kelly believes that Ron doesn’t stand a chance against Trump in the 2024 election? Comment down below!