Global Courant
It is the latest flashpoint in the increasingly bitter war of words between former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as they fight for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Wednesday night, as DeSantis took the stage for his fourth event in Iowa, Trump took aim at him on social media over the governor’s differing statements about his name.
“Did you hear ‘Rob’ DeSanctimonious wants to change his name again. He demands people call him DeeeSantis, instead of DaSantis. Actually, I like ‘Da’ better, nicer flow, so I’m glad he’s changing it. He gets very upset when people, including reporters, don’t pronounce it correctly, so he shouldn’t mind, DeSanctimonious?” said Trump.
Media reports in recent days have highlighted how DeSantis has used two different pronunciations of his name in recent weeks, switching between “Deh-Santis” and “Dee-Santis”.
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Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at a campaign event on Tuesday, May 30, 2023 in Clive, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) (AP)
DeSantis, in New Hampshire Thursday morning, was asked about Trump’s jabs during an appearance on the “Good Morning New Hampshire with Jack Heath” news program.
I think it’s so petty. I think it’s so youthful. I don’t think that’s what voters want. White House now. Because I think he alienated too many voters for things that really don’t matter. So I don’t get in the gutter for that,” DeSantis said.
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“Look now, we have substantive differences and I think President Trump has done a lot of great things. I still give him credit for the great things he did. But he attacks me on the policy front where we have it disagree and I’m the one who’s right about this,” DeSantis added while pointing to the disagreements over the past few days between Trump and DeSantis over the Florida Governor’s handling of the COVID crisis and Trump’s comments that then-Government Andrew Cuomo of New York outperformed DeSantis, and their disagreements over an immigration and border security measure supported by then-President Trump and ultimately opposed by then-Representative DeSantis.
Since announcing his candidacy for president last week, DeSantis has stepped up his counterattacks against Trump, who has been beating his main rival for the GOP nomination for months.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally on April 27, 2023 in Manchester, New Hampshire. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Trump, who remains the leading frontrunner in the race for the GOP presidential nomination as he makes his third straight bid for the White House, has been targeting DeSantis since last fall. The former president, his political team and allies have intensified their attacks in recent months.
DeSantis had largely resisted responding to Trump’s attacks until last week.
On Tuesday in Iowa, as he took his first campaign swing as a 2024 candidate, DeSantis began lashing out aggressively during a question and answer session with reporters.
Former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. (Getty Images)
“So look, I’m going to respond to attacks,” DeSantis said as he kicked off a four-day swing through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, the first three states to top the Republican presidential nomination calendar. “I’m going to counterpunch and I’m going to fight back.”
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And on Thursday, in his radio interview in New Hampshire, DeSantis argued, “I think the content — people want to see the content. I think that’s totally legitimate. But the juvenile swear words and all that stuff. That’s not how I roll…I think it’s a distraction and I think it scares off voters How are we going to win over independent voters in New Hampshire and other key states if we’re going to engage in that kind of back and I “I think the voters are sick of it. I think they want to hear about the problems the country is facing and how you can get results for them.”
Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter from New Hampshire.
