Donald Trump is now calling Ron DeSantis a “rocket man that’s crashing,” in his latest attack on the Florida Governor, suggesting that DeSantis may not run in 2024 after all.
On the Full Send Podcast, Trump talked about how his competition in the GOP is “fading fast, fading very, very quickly,” with particular attention to DeSantis and the possibility that a presidential campaign may not happen.
“When I endorsed him, He went like a rocket ship, like that song ‘Rocket Man,’” Trump said. “But now he’s a rocket man that’s crashing. His polls are terrible. I’m leading him in every state … everywhere.”
Trump even jabbed at DeSantis, floating the idea he may decline to run for President this cycle.
“Now, he’s out campaigning. I assume he’s going to run. But I think the numbers are so bad now that a lot of people are assuming that he won’t run,” Trump said.
Trump told the story again of how his endorsement lifted DeSantis in 2018 from “3 points” in polls, “nothing,” through the Primary and the General Election, only for the Governor to offer “no comment” when he was asked if he would run for President.
“He was dead politically. I endorsed him and saved him,” Trump said. “He was losing by like 25, 30 points very shortly before the election.”
Asked if he would consider DeSantis as a running mate, Trump was succinct.
“I don’t see it.”
While DeSantis may or may not be running for President, every indication is that he has a campaign raring to go.
The supportive NEVER BACK DOWN Super PAC sent out autobiographical five-page mail pieces Thursday in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, including descriptions of the Governor’s “blue-collar backbone forged with steel” and DeSantis’ “honor, courage, and commitment.”
The mail piece presumably will help DeSantis recover from recent doldrums in the polls. Recent New Hampshire surveys show DeSantis anywhere from 20 points to 33 points behind Donald Trump.
The former President doubles DeSantis’ support in South Carolina, where Nikki Haley is within the margin of error of a tie for second place.
In Iowa, meanwhile, Trump is up by 30 points over DeSantis in the most recent polling.
However, some national polls suggest that Trump is fading in recent weeks.
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