Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has so far not responded to any of former President Donald Trump’s attacks in hopes that Trump will be his own adversary ahead of the 2024 Republican primary. While the two men had previously been allies, with Trump having endorsed DeSantis in 2018, the relationship between them has been breaking down in recent months.
Last week, Trump, who held two campaign events, one in New Hampshire and one in South Carolina, accused DeSantis of being “disloyal.” This is because Trump claims that it was because of him that DeSantis managed to win the gubernatorial election in 2018.
DeSantis on the other hand has not engaged with any of the comments that Trump has made, leading to many speculating that he is trying to appear more level-headed than Trump.
Stephen Lawson, a Georgia-based strategist who also served as the communications director for DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial run, has said that no one has managed to cause Trump more harm than the harm he has caused himself. He added that he believed DeSantis was making the right choice by completely letting Trump “throw boomerangs” without responding.
He added that he thought Republicans viewed DeSantis as a strong conservative alternative to Trump which is why they would support him if he decided to run against Trump in the Republican primary.
One longtime Florida Republican donor has already disclosed that they would support DeSantis if he decided to place a bid for the White House. However, he has also said that the governor should not feel pushed to engage in a fight with Trump.
