DeSantis starts to hone his attacks against Trump
by Max Greenwood - 06/01/23 6:00 AM ET
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is sharpening his attacks against former President Donald Trump just a week into his White House campaign, ushering in a new, more bitter phase of the 2024 presidential race.
Speaking to reporters in Iowa after a campaign kickoff rally on Tuesday night, DeSantis delivered his most direct attack on Trump yet, accusing his one-time political benefactor of moving “to the left” and opportunistically criticizing Florida’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He used to say how great Florida was,” DeSantis told reporters in Clive, Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines. “Hell, his whole family to Florida under my governorship. Are you kidding me?”
“Look, if someone is saying that, I’m gonna counterpunch and I’m gonna fight back on it,” he added. “I’m going to focus my fire on Biden and I think he should do the same. He gives Biden a free pass. I’m focusing on Biden. That’s my focus.”
There were also hints that the growing animosity between DeSantis and Trump owed, in part, to something more personal. After DeSantis and the GOP swept the 2022 midterm elections in Florida, the governor recalled, “did [Trump] ever say anything like ‘atta boy, good job?’”
“No, he attacked me three days before the midterm election,” DeSantis said. “And then he started attacking after that.”
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https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4028701-desantis-starts-to-hone-his-attacks-against-trump/
