Posted on 01/18/22
| News Source: The Hill
The long-simmering tensions between former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) are reaching a boiling point ahead of a potential 2024 primary clash.
Trump has griped behind the scenes for months about DeSantis’s rapid political rise, including chatter about a future White House bid. But the complaints from the former president have only grown louder, raising concerns among some Republicans about a looming brawl between two GOP heavyweights.
“President Trump is the one clearly picking a fight here, and it’s a fight that's too early and unnecessary,” said Sam Nunberg, a former adviser to Trump who stressed that he is neutral in a dustup between Trump and DeSantis. “We’re not in Republican primary season. This is a fight for mid-2023. It’s not a fight to start having in 2022.”
Still, Nunberg added, “If Donald Trump believes he is punching down when he’s attacking Ron DeSantis, then why do it?”
The tensions have come into sharper focus in recent days. An article published on Sunday by The New York Times offered a detailed accounting of an increasingly confrontational relationship between Trump and DeSantis.
Likewise, a story published by Axios on Monday reporting that Trump has been privately disparaging DeSantis as “dull” and lacking in “personal charisma” found itself front and center on the conservative website Drudge Report.
And just last week, Trump appeared to take a thinly veiled shot at DeSantis for refusing to say publicly whether he has received his COVID-19 booster shot. In an interview with the conservative One America News Network, the former president slammed “gutless” politicians who won’t reveal their booster status, a comment that was widely viewed as aimed at the Florida governor.