Trump belittles rival DeSantis as having 'no personality'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 Jul 2023 22:54

The Florida governor has faced some serious challenges in his presidential campaign, with some arguing he has been using "desperate" measures to catch up with Trump.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women Lilac Luncheon on June 27, 2023. (AP)

At a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday, Donald Trump said Republican rival Ron DeSantis was getting "killed" in the elections campaign and has "no personality".

While also repeating that the 2020 election results were fraudulent, Trump said he was responsible for the Flordia governor's career, noting that DeSantis had asked for an endorsement from Trump when he ran for governor in 2018.

"I said, listen Ron, you’re so dead that if Abraham Lincoln and George Washington came back from the dead, and if they put their hands and hearts together and prayed … nothing is going to change. Ron, you are gone."

Last year, DeSantis won against Charlie Crist in a re-election landslide, securing his second term as governor of Florida.

However, the governor has faced some serious challenges in his presidential campaign, with some arguing he has been using "desperate" measures to catch up with Trump.

"I’m not a big fan of his and he’s highly overrated," Trump said in Las Vegas.

Speaking about his rival's support for cuts on social security, Trump added, "The one thing you have to remember, when a politician comes out with an initial plan and then they go into a corner because they’re getting killed. Because he’s getting killed. Well, he also has no personality. That helps, right?"

Although DeSantis has in the past supported proposals that would reduce social security, he now says that he would not "mess with" the crucial government program. However, Trump now sees the opportunity to weaken his opponent by bringing the matter to voters' attention.

DeSantis blamed "corporate media" for his low polling, noting that "these people that are responsible for a lot of the ills in our society" and that they were specifically targeting people like him.

"Well, I think if you look at the people like the corporate media, who are they going after?" he said. “Who do they not want to be the nominee? They’re going after me."

DeSantis also announced plans to partake in the first Republican debate in August, an event Trump has suggested he will skip.

Trump is the first former or sitting president to be charged with a crime -- in his case over election-eve hush money payments to a porn star who said she had an affair with him.

Despite facing 71 criminal charges with the prospect of additional ones, Trump is leading the primary with more than 50% of the GOP voting base.

Trump is accused of withholding a document during a federal investigation, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, 31 counts of intentional retention of national security information, two distinct counts of making false statements, and other connected offenses.

According to his indictment, he could get a term of up to 20 years in jail for a number of crimes.