Trump escalates attacks ahead of DeSantis’ campaign launch

Former President Donald Trump has launched a relentless series of attacks intended to end Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ fledgling White House run with death by a thousand cuts.

Mr. Trump’s social media feed is jam-packed with DeSantis digs and links to stories and polls suggesting the Florida governor’s support is fading.

“The storm is coming, said Aubrey Jewett, assistant director of the University of Central Florida’s School of Politics. “As long as Trump views DeSantis as his most serious competitor for the nomination, the attacks are going to keep coming.” 

Asked about the constant stream of attacks, Bryan Griffin, a spokesman for Mr. DeSantis’ political operation, said the governor’s list of accomplishments in Florida is unprecedented and “has created a hunger among the public for the same successful conservative leadership across the nation.”

“There are talkers, and there are doers,” he said. “Governor DeSantis is a doer.”

Mr. DeSantis’ record in Florida has made him Mr. Trump’s chief early rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and he is expected to formally jump into the race next week.

His long-awaited entrance will, in many ways, sound the starting gun in a race that has been slowly taking shape since Mr. Trump announced in November that he was running again for the White House.

It also will offer him the opportunity to try to regain some of the momentum Mr. DeSantis lost since the beginning of the year due, in part, to the battering by Trump and Mr. DeSantis’s move to the right on issues, particularly abortion.

“Over the last four months we have seen DeSantis support slip,” said Clifford Young, president of public affairs at the research and polling firm Ipsos. “His numbers have declined month over month and that is primarily a function of his hard tact to the right.”

Mr. Young attributed the DeSantis stumble to his support for Florida’s new six-week abortion ban, saying he has lost some support among women and moderate, more educated Republicans.

Mr. Trump has had his sights set on Mr. DeSantis since the runup to the midterm elections, dubbing him “Ron DeSanctimonious.” 

Mr. Trump warned at the time Mr. DeSantis “could hurt himself very badly” if he runs and threatened to “tell you things about him that won’t be very flattering.”

Mr. Trump followed through on the threat, unleashing a flurry of attacks against Mr. DeSantis, including on Mother’s Day when he gave him another nickname “Rob.”

“Rob DeSanctimonious and his poll numbers are dropping like a rock - I would almost be inclined to say, these are record ‘falls,’” Mr. Trump said. “The question: Is ‘Rob’ just young, inexperienced and naive or, more troubling, is he a fool who has no idea what he is doing. “We already have one of those in office, we don’t need another one. MAGA!”

Mr. Trump has criticized Mr. DeSantis’ handling of his fight with Disney and attacked him on a personal level, casting him as a stiff, and saying he needs a “personality transplant.”

Mr. DeSantis has stayed above the fray — with some notable exceptions. 

In March, he said, “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair.”

And during a recent trip through Iowa, he said, “Governing is not about entertaining. Governing is not about building a brand or talking on social media and virtue signaling. It’s ultimately about winning and producing results.”

Mr. Jewett said Mr. DeSantis is going to have to keep weathering the attacks because they are not going to end anytime soon.

“As to when they will stop, it will be when Trump has either secured the nomination or DeSantis has dropped out of the race because I don’t think they will stop any other way,” he said. “There could be an alternative scenario where DeSantis wins the nominations and Trump loses, but I don’t think that would stop the criticism.”