Trump & Ron DeSantis.Photo: Phelan M. Ebenhack for The Washington Post via Getty, CHENEY ORR/AFP via Getty
AsRon DeSantis' 2024 presidential campaign continues facing setbacks, former PresidentDonald Trumpis trouncing him in the polls.
The trend, according to some political operatives at the time, seemed to suggest that DeSantis, 44, would be a strong challenger to Trump, 77, in a primary election.
But since DeSantisannounced his presidential campaign in May, he’s faced several challenges. In recent weeks, his presidential campaignreportedly fired numerous campaign staffersamid financial woes and lackluster poll numbers.
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis speaks at a South Carolina campaign event on July 17, 2023.AP Photo/Meg Kinnard
AP Photo/Meg Kinnard
Reports have also circulated that some potential billionaire mega-donors are having second thoughts about a DeSantis campaign. On July 24, theSouth Florida Sun Sentinelreported that Nelson Peltz, a billionaire businessman and the father of actressNicola Peltz Beckham, is among those “rethinking” their support for the Florida governor.
Peltz, who was expected to be a huge financial asset to the campaign, allegedly “thinks that most of DeSantis’s policies are acceptable, but his position on abortion is way too severe,” a source told theFinancial Times.
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DeSantis was once a Trump ally, with the former president’s endorsement helping the now-governor win the2018 Republican primaryagainst the long-held favorite for the role, former Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam.
But Trump has since suggested that his early endorsement should have led to more “loyalty” from 44-year-old DeSantis.
“If he runs, that’s fine. I’m way up in the polls,” Trump told the Associated Press earlier this year. “He’s going to have to do what he wants to do, but he may run. I do think it would be a great act of disloyalty because, you know, I got him in. He had no chance. His political life was over.”
Trump’s attacks on DeSantis have amplified with time, and in April the former president said the governor is losing backers because he has “no personality or people skills” and adding that supporters may consider sending DeSantis “to the great Walter Reed Medical Center for an emergency personality transplant.”
Trump’s support among voters comes as the former president isembroiled in a growing number of legal issuesand has been indicted twice this year —once in federal courtandonce in Manhattan.
source: people.com
