唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)周四加大了对佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯这表明他将德桑蒂斯视为2024年共和党总统初选的潜在挑战者。
特朗普在他的社交媒体网站Truth Social上发表了一份冗长的声明，抨击德桑蒂斯是一名受益于“伟大公共关系”的“普通”州长。
他还为德桑蒂斯重复了一个新的贬义绰号:“罗恩·德桑蒂默尼奥斯。”
在他的声明中，特朗普还包括对他的媒体报道的典型抱怨和一再毫无根据的选举欺诈指控，他在2018年佛罗里达州州长初选期间吹捧自己是一个关键的支持者，当时德桑蒂斯与亚当·普特南(Adam Putnam)争夺共和党提名。
“他在政治上已经死了，”特朗普当时为德桑蒂斯辩护，坚称他的支持是初选胜利的关键。
“而现在，Ron DeSanctimonious正在玩游戏!假新闻问他，如果特朗普总统(在2024年)参选，他是否会参选，他说，“我只关注州长竞选，我不会展望未来。”好吧，就忠诚和阶级而言，这真的不是正确的答案，”特朗普说。
对此事有直接了解的消息来源告诉ABC新闻特朗普倾向于宣布第三次竞选白宫，最早可能在11月14日那周。几个月来，这位前总统还在全国各地的集会上调侃2024年的竞选。他上周在爱荷华州的一次集会上说，“为了使我们的国家成功、安全和光荣，我将非常、非常、非常可能再次这样做，”他补充说，“准备好，这就是我要告诉你的。很快。准备好。”
特朗普本周早些时候表示，周二将在佛罗里达州棕榈滩的Mar-a-Lago宣布一项“非常重大”的消息。
特朗普周四继续表示，他在2016年共和党总统初选中遇到过类似的竞争对手，“我轻松地一个接一个地击败了他们。”
德桑蒂斯的助手没有回应对特朗普批评的置评请求。
接近前总统的消息人士立即将这一声明归类为特朗普的“误判”。两名仍为特朗普提供建议的前白宫高级官员周四晚上告诉美国广播公司新闻，这是他们看到的他在政治上最弱的一次。
“他对德桑蒂斯的过度反应让事情变得更糟，”一名高级助手说。
“精神错乱。这对他没用，”另一名高级助手补充道。
最近几天，这位前总统对这位佛罗里达州州长交替进行抨击，比如他上周末首次使用的“冷漠”标签，以及然后在周日的集会上宣布重新选举德桑蒂斯，他做出的最接近于支持的评论。
他还公开表示，他投票给德桑蒂斯，后者后来击败了民主党人查理·克里斯特将近20%-在一个以势均力敌著称的州，这是一个显著的优势。相比之下，许多其他共和党候选人在这次中期选举中遭受了损失尽管有可能出现“红色浪潮”的预测反对当权的民主党。
多名特朗普支持的候选人被击败，包括密歇根州州长提名人都铎·迪克森(Tudor Dixon)和宾夕法尼亚州参议员穆罕默德·奥兹(Mehmet Oz)博士。
两名高级德桑蒂斯竞选官员早些时候告诉美国广播公司新闻，在特朗普周四发表声明之前，竞选团队在最后几天做出了一个有意识的决定，不对特朗普的嘲讽做出回应。其中包括这个昵称，以及特朗普在大选前夕告诉福克斯新闻频道，他“会告诉你一些关于(德桑蒂斯)的事情，这些事情不会很讨人喜欢——我比任何人都了解他，或许除了他的妻子。”
德桑蒂斯的助手还表示，与党内其他与特朗普关系密切的人相比，他和他的团队意识到了他的成功。
当被问及德桑蒂斯本周赢得大选后的想法时，一名高级顾问告诉ABC新闻，他的关注点不是政治，而是热带风暴妮可.
与特朗普一样，德桑蒂斯在本次中期选举中为其他多名共和党候选人竞选，如俄亥俄州的万斯(J.D. Vance)(获胜)和新墨西哥州的马克·龙凯蒂(Mark Ronchetti)(失败)。当德桑蒂斯为已与特朗普决裂的科罗拉多州共和党参议员提名人乔·奥代亚(Joe O'Dea)助选时，后者称之为“大错误”
德桑蒂斯一再淡化他将在2024年竞选总统的猜测，尽管这在竞选期间成为克里斯特的攻击线。
“他不着急。他不必着急...德桑蒂斯2018年州长竞选的公关主任斯蒂芬·劳森说:“他所做的是继续向更多的观众提升他的地位和名字，以及他的保守主义资历。之前告诉ABC新闻.“我认为他是在以这样一种方式做这件事，‘我要去法院，并以一种基于我在佛罗里达州的成绩记录可能会有更广泛吸引力的方式，与我们党的这一基础进行交谈。’"
“换句话说——‘我会得到所有的好处，而不会直接面对特朗普的坏处，’”劳森当时说。
Trump takes aim at Ron DeSantis, suggesting he's a 2024 rival
Donald Trump on Thursday escalated his criticism ofFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis, suggesting he views DeSantis as a potential challenger in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
In a lengthy statement -- echoed on his social media website, Truth Social -- Trump jabbed at DeSantis as an "average" governor who benefited from "great Public Relations."
He also repeated a new derogatory nickname for DeSantis: "Ron DeSanctimonious."
In his statement, which also included characteristic complaints about his media coverage and repeated unfounded claims of election fraud, Trump touted himself as being a key endorser during the 2018 Florida gubernatorial primary, when DeSantis ran against Adam Putnam for the GOP nomination.
"He was politically dead," Trump argued of DeSantis at the time, insisting that his support had been key to the primary win.
"And now, Ron DeSanctimonious is playing games! The Fake News asks him if he's going to run if President Trump runs [in 2024], and he says, 'I'm only focused on the Governor's race, I'm not looking into the future.' Well, in terms of loyalty and class, that's really not the right answer," Trump said.
Sources with direct knowledge of the matter have told ABC News thatTrump is leaning toward announcing a third run for the White House, possibly as early as the week of Nov. 14. The former president has also been teasing a 2024 run at rallies across the country for several months. He said last week during an Iowa rally, "In order to make our country successful, and safe and glorious, I will very, very, very probably do it again," adding, "Get ready, that's all I'm telling you. Very soon. Get ready."
Trump said earlier this week there will be a "very big" announcement on Tuesday at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump went on to say Thursday that he had faced similar rivals in the 2016 GOP presidential primary and "I easily knocked them out, one by one."
Aides for DeSantis did not respond to requests for comment on Trump's criticism.
Sources close to the former president immediately categorized this statement as a "miscalculation" on Trump's behalf. Two former senior White House officials who still advise Trump told ABC News Thursday night that this is the weakest they've seen him politically.
"His overreaction against DeSantis is making it even worse," one top aide said.
"Unhinged. This is not going to work for him," another top aide added.
In recent days, the former president has alternated between swipes at the Florida governor, such as the "DeSanctimonious" label, which he first used last weekend, andthen telling a rally on Sunday to reelect DeSantis,the closest comments he made to an endorsement.
He also publicly said he voted for DeSantis, who went on to beat Democrat Charlie Cristby nearly 20%-- a notable margin in a state famous for its close races. By comparison, many other Republican candidates suffered this midterm cycledespite predictions of a possible "red wave"against the in-power Democrats.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speak at midterm election rallies, in Dayton, Ohio, U.S. Nov. 7, 2022 and Tampa, Florida, U.S., Nov. 8, 2022 in a combination of file photos.
Gaelen Morse, Marco Bello/Reuters
Multiple Trump-backed candidates were defeated, including Michigan gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon and Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania's Senate race.
Two senior DeSantis campaign officials earlier told ABC News -- before Trump's statement on Thursday -- that the campaign made a conscious decision in the final days not to respond to Trump's taunts. Those included the nickname and Trump telling Fox News on election eve that he "would tell you things about [DeSantis] that won't be very flattering -- I know more about him than anybody other than, perhaps, his wife."
DeSantis' aides also said he and his team were aware of his success compared to others in the party who were closely tied to Trump.
When asked what DeSantis was thinking after his election win this week, a top adviser told ABC News that he was focusing not on politics buton Tropical Storm Nicole.
Like Trump, DeSantis campaigned for multiple other Republican candidates this midterm season, such as J.D. Vance in Ohio (who won) and Mark Ronchetti in New Mexico (who lost). When DeSantis stumped for Colorado Republican Senate nominee Joe O'Dea, who had broken with Trump, the lattercalled it a "big mistake."
DeSantis has repeatedly played down speculation that he will run for president in 2024 -- even as that became an attack line from Crist during the campaign.
"He's in no hurry. He doesn't have to be in a hurry ... What he's doing is continuing to elevate his stature and his name ID, his conservative credentials to a larger audience," Stephan Lawson, DeSantis' director of communications for his 2018 gubernatorial campaign,previously told ABC News. "I think he's doing it in a way that's like, 'I'm gonna go court and talk to this base of our party in a way that could potentially have broader appeal based on my record of results in Florida.'"
"Put another way -- 'I'm gonna get all the good without the bad of taking on Trump directly,'" Lawson said at the time.
