THE NEWS TRIBUNE
Former President Trump said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) running for president would be “a great act of disloyalty” as he kicked off his first two major campaign events as part of his own 2024 presidential run.
Trump visited New Hampshire and South Carolina, two of the first states to vote in the primary calendar, on Saturday after a quieter-than-normal beginning to his reelection campaign. He launched his campaign in mid-November, but has yet to hold any major rallies that were consistent during his 2016 and 2020 runs.
Trump announced the leaders of his New Hampshire and South Carolina campaigns during his speeches. After his South Carolina speech, he sat for an interview with The Associated Press and criticized DeSantis, who is rumored to be considering his own presidential run and who has consistently placed second in hypothetical Republican primary polls.
Trump emphasized his own status leading in many of those polls and took credit for DeSantis’s first election as governor of Florida.
“If he runs, that’s fine. I’m way up in the polls. He’s going to have to do what he wants to do, but he may run,” Trump said. “I do think it would be a great act of disloyalty because, you know, I got him in. He had no chance. His political life was over.”
