"An average governor" - Trump's attacks on DeSantis are getting sharper

Two days after the US midterm elections, former President Donald Trump attacked his party rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Fake News asked DeSantis if he would run for President if he, Trump, ran. And DeSantis says he's only focused on the gubernatorial race, he's not looking to the future, Trump wrote on his network Truth Social: "Well, as far as loyalty and class, that's really not the right answer."

DeSantis is "an average REPUBLICAN governor with great public relations." He did not have to close his state during the corona pandemic, "but unlike other Republican governors, he did," Trump continued.

At the latest after his landslide victory in the gubernatorial election on Tuesday, DeSantis is considered a possible promising Republican candidate for the White House in 2024. He has not yet officially signaled his interest. According to the US media, a possible explanation in the spring of 2023 is expected in his environment. DeSantis is scheduled to be re-sworn in as governor of Florida in January.

Trump has been trying for days to put DeSantis' political success into perspective. Trump announced on Wednesday that he received more votes in the 2020 presidential election than DeSantis did on Tuesday. This is formally correct, but turnout in presidential elections is usually higher than in midterms. On a percentage basis, DeSantis fared better than Trump.

Trump now talked DeSantis' success by referring to the good weather in Florida. All the sun is the reason that "people from the badly run states up north" move to Florida - "no matter who the governor is, like I did!"

The ex-president also claims that only his support for DeSantis before the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election got him any success. DeSantis approached him in 2017 in a "desperate state" and was "politically dead" at the time.

Trump also lamented the dwindling political backing for him in the American media. "NewsCorp, which includes Fox, the Wall Street Journal, and the defunct New York Post, is fully behind Governor Ron DeSanctimonious," Trump wrote. "Ron DeSanctimonious" is his new nickname for DeSantis, in German something like: "Ron Scheinheilig".

In the Republican Party, DeSantis, 44, is growing in popularity while Trump, 76, is losing credibility. Republican leaders in many states were counting on Trump to win the midterm elections, "and he didn't." They're disappointed," David Urban told the Washington Post. Urban is a top advisor to Trump's victorious 2016 campaign in Pennsylvania and a longtime ally. The Republican Party's focus is now in the state of Florida, "and I don't mean Mar-a-Lago," Urban said. Mar-a-Lago is Trump's estate.

Trump has now officially invited to a “special announcement” at his private club in Palm Beach next Tuesday. An email to members of the media read: “President Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America, will make a special announcement on Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.”

It is widely expected that the 76-year-old will explain his bid for the presidential candidacy here. There is concern among Republicans that Trump's narcissism could hurt the party's chances in the Georgia runoff. There Senate candidate Herschel Walker, supported by Trump, is going into a runoff on December 6 against Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock. Neither candidate received 50 percent of the vote Tuesday, as required by Georgia's electoral law. Warnock got a better result than Walker on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Trump received support from his longtime adviser Roger Stone. "Sadly, everything President Trump says is true," Stone said, according to Politico. Ron DeSantis owes his governorship to Trump "and challenging him in 2024 would be a treasonable act of disloyalty."