🚨THREAD 🧵
It is becoming increasingly clear that Donald Trump and @RonDeSantisFL are in a growing feud.
Reports are rampant that Trump sees himself as totally responsible for the success of DeSantis simply due to his initial endorsement. (cont)
/2 Trump was initially hesitant to endorse DeSantis. Didn’t think people of FL would associate him w/word “Governor”.
“Ron, you’re at 3%, you can’t win.”
Trump was initially polling around 1% - 3% in the 2016 primary and later won. Short memory for DJT.
mediaite.com/tv/new-audio-s…
/3 DeSantis was not just handed the Trump endorsement. RDS spent months on TV defending Trump from the Russia collusion hoax.
If anything, Trump owed him the 2018 endorsement as a goodwill gesture. This was hardly Trump being a visionary or benevolent.
RDS earned it.
/4 The undoing of the Trump / DeSantis relationship seems to trace back to the 2020 campaign when RDS forced out a Trump campaign staffer for suspicions of leaking.
/5 The theme of Trump taking credit for the success of others is not a new phenomenon.
Trump classlessly credited MAGA voters for the @GlennYoungkin victory w/o praising Youngkin himself.
news.yahoo.com/trump-claims-c…
/6 @maggieNYT notes that Trump “believes that if he does something for someone, they owe him fealty for life, including the exclusion of their own future ambitions.” 🎯
This is spot-on and exposes how unrealistic these expectations are from Trump.
Politics changes rapidly.
/7 DeSantis, meanwhile, has forged his own identity aside from Trump and his popularity in the 2024 discussion has grown.
He’s Trump “without the insanity and tweets at three in the morning” said a top GOP donor.
DeSantis forged this himself through self discipline & action.
/8 DeSantis already has a 2024 battle plan against Trump and isn’t being shy about sharing it with those closest to him.
RDS clearly plans a frontal assault on Trump going right at his Covid mismanagement and failed promises like the wall.
/9 Trump, meanwhile, vents about DeSantis in private and uses such lovable descriptive as “overrated, disloyal, and a know-nothing”.
Everyone says Trump and DeSantis are still friends, but I’m not seeing it.
/10 Trump has also reportedly described DeSantis as “fat”, “phony”, and “whiny”.
This is not how friends speak of one another.
Neither man has refuted any of these stories noting their private feud.
/11 This brings us to the million dollar question:
Why has Trump the “America first” leader not endorsed @RonDeSantisFL for re-election?
Is DeSantis not the embodiment of the “America first” agenda at the state level?
There is a reason for Trump not endorsing…
/12 Recent articles have detailed that Trump wants DeSantis to squeak by in re-election to stop any 2024 momentum DeSantis might be garnering.
The two men no longer speak regularly, per a close Trump advisor.
A separation is occurring similar to an old refrigerated liquid.
/13 @RonDeSantisFL and @CaseyDeSantis seem to be executing a very shrewd 2024 strategy of getting RDS on conservative media to swim over Trump voters without directly taking on Trump…yet.
Casey is the media force as an ex-anchor. Reports say she is pushing #DeSantis2024.
/14 Trump seems irritated that DeSantis is acting out some ideas that Trump simply talked about.
We know Trump hates being upstaged & @RonDeSantisFL has gone full gangsta in shipping out illegals to Dem cities, something Trump evidently thought of doing.
dailycaller.com/2022/09/19/rep…
/15 The bottom line is we are seeing the beginnings of a 2024 showdown between Trump and DeSantis.
It’s going to happen. DeSantis is crushing Crist by 11 points and won’t throw that sort of momentum away.
A competitive primary will be healthy for the party.
#DeSantis2024
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