Former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are reportedly attacking each other behind closed doors, with Trump calling the Florida governor “fat,” “phony” and “whiny” and DeSantis venting to staffers that Trump is a “moron” and has no business running for president.
The revelations about the bickering between the two possible Republican presidential candidates, which was reported by Vanity Fair, comes as DeSantis tries to position himself as the new face of the Republican party and Trump tries to avoid indictment amid multiple investigations.
Staffers for the Florida Republican reportedly told the magazine that DeSantis calls Trump “a TV personality and a moron who has no business running for president”.
“DeSantis says the only way to beat Trump is to attack him head-on,” one GOP source briefed on conversations told Vanity Fair. “He says he would turn to Trump during a debate and say, ‘Why didn’t you fire Fauci? You said you would build the wall, but there is no wall. Why is that?’”
Meanwhile, Trump has reportedly described DeSantis as “fat,” “phony,” “whiny” and “ungrateful” politician, according to New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman. During an interview on the right-wing Newsmax channel, Trump was asked by the host what his thoughts were on the Florida governor making a run for commander-in-chief on the GOP ticket.
“Well, I don’t know that he wants to run, you know, I have a good relationship with Ron,” Trump replied, before adding: “But I was very responsible for him getting elected, as you know,” he said.
Neither rump nor DeSantis have announced their candidacy for the White House, but it has been widely speculated that both men have been soft launching their campaigns for the past few months as they engage in national profile-raising activities.
