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Trump Blasting Away At De Santis As Possible GOP Rival In 2024
- By The Financial District
- Jan 14, 2022
- 2 min read
Trump feels like he made Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis into the Republican star that he is today. But now that DeSantis is hugely popular with the "Make America Great Again" crowd and attracting deep-pocket donors, the former President sees him as a threat to his own political future.
Photo Insert: Trump also wants credit for DeSantis’ political celebrity because he plucked him from near-obscurity in 2017 when he endorsed his bid for governor.
As CNN’s Kate Sullivan reported, Trump appeared to take a shot at DeSantis in a recent interview after the Florida governor dodged a question about whether he had received a booster shot. Trump didn’t name DeSantis but said politicians who refuse to say whether they have been boosted are “gutless.”
“They don’t want to say it because they’re gutless. You gotta say it. Whether you had it or not, say it," Trump told the far-right channel One America News. Trump as a vaccine campaigner?
Stranger things have happened, but not many. When the former President said last month he had received his booster shot he was booed by parts of a Texas audience. DeSantis is very aware of the anti-vaccine sentiment among the base, and when he was asked on Fox in December whether he had received his booster, he sidestepped the question.
Trump is apparently frustrated with the governor because he wants DeSantis to publicly rule out a White House bid in 2024 if he decides to run again. DeSantis has maintained his only objective is getting reelected as governor in November and has privately told Trump he won’t challenge him, CNN has reported.
But Trump won’t be satisfied until he says it publicly, which is something DeSantis has so far avoided doing. Trump also wants credit for DeSantis’ political celebrity because he plucked him from near-obscurity in 2017 when he endorsed his bid for governor.
DeSantis was a congressman at the time and was far behind the state’s agriculture commissioner in the race. But after Trump’s endorsement, DeSantis shot up like a rocket.
