‘THAT WAS RIDICULOUS’

Donald Trump Surprises With Ron DeSantis Line at Rally in Miami

After earlier criticizing one of the most well known Republican Party members, the former president avoided the Ron DeSantis drama – for the most part.

At a Sunday afternoon midterm election rally near Miami, Donald Trump avoided taking a jab at Florida’s other most popular Republican, Gov. Ron DeSantis. “The people of Florida are going to reelect the wonderful, great friend of mine Marco Rubio to the U.S. Senate,” the former president told more than 2,000 supporters. “And you’re going to reelect Ron DeSantis as your governor.”

It wasn’t an effusive endorsement, but a day earlier Trump fired a warning shot at his budding rival for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. While stumping for Mehmet Oz, the GOP U.S. Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, Trump called DeSantis “Ron DeSanctimonious.” The zinger came while Trump bragged about one-month-old poll numbers showing him with a gargantuan lead among Republican voters over Florida’s governor and former Vice-President Mike Pence.

The insult was totally unnecessary, Luis Solarana told The Daily Beast. A Brooklyn native who moved to Miami in 1984, Solarana was among dozens of other MAGA diehards at the Miami-Dade County Fairgrounds who were pumped about a potential Republican rout in the Sunshine State on election day this Tuesday.

“I heard about what Trump called DeSantis,” Solarana said. “That was ridiculous. Sometimes, Trump has to keep his opinion to himself.”

Nevertheless, he would rather DeSantis remain Florida’s governor and for Trump to get the Republican nomination uncontested, Solarana said. “I can’t wait for 2024,” he said. “Trump is my preference.”

For months, Trump and DeSantis have engaged in a behind-the-scenes cold war as Florida’s governor positions himself as a leading contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. While DeSantis has deftly dodged commenting about his White House aspirations, he’s taken a number of steps to elevate his national profile, including endorsing gubernatorial and congressional candidates in other states for the midterm election.

Among those who have received the DeSantis stamp of approval are 2020 presidential election deniers Doug Mastriano, the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Pennsylvania, and Kari Lake, the GOP’s nominee for governor in Arizona.

DeSantis’ popularity is also on an upswing. Two polls of GOP voters in Michigan and New Hampshire show Trump and DeSantis are statistically tied, while a Florida survey shows Republicans favoring their governor over the former president.

DeSantis’ refusal to publicly back off his ambitions has incensed Trump, who’s consistently broadcasted his intention to run again since his supporters’ failed insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.

DeSantis was notably absent from the Miami-Dade County Fairgrounds as he was in Tampa for a reelection campaign rally of his own. Multiple media reports noted that DeSantis was not invited to the Miami rally and that the governor did not ask to attend.

However, a Florida International University poll of Cuban American voters, who are the predominant Hispanic voting bloc in Miami-Dade County, shows they favor Trump over DeSantis by 32 percent to 25 percent. The Miami rally attendees, mostly Hispanic conservatives, backed up FIU’s findings. Throughout Trump’s speech, they chanted, “We want Trump!,” “Trump won!” and “We love you!”

Trump fed the crowd his usual list of false grievances about the 2020 election being stolen from him and that his two impeachments were hoaxes. The ex-president also made ludicrously unfounded claims that Democrats are responsible for allowing the profits of drug cartels to blow up by “2,500 percent,” and that “streets in America are ruled by ruthless, bloodthirsty gangs.” He also claimed without evidence that every drug dealer kills an average of 500 people in their lifetime.

Jorge Perez, a 48-year-old Cuban American Republican holding up a large blue “Let’'s Go Brandon” flag and a DeSantis campaign t-shirt, said it’s only logical that Florida’s governor stay in his lane. “Trump is the guy calling the shots,” Perez said. “I imagine the Republican Party machinery will fall in line behind him.”

During Fantasy Fest, a popular street costume party in Key West last month, he was surprised by a proliferation of DeSantis signs in Florida’s southernmost city, Bob Kunst told The Daily Beast. A Miami Beach resident wearing a Deplorables for Trump T-shirt and holding a homemade “Hillary for Prison” sign, Kunst said he met Republicans who moved down from other states and want DeSantis to run for president.

“I told them we need him as governor,” Kunst said. “There is nobody strong enough to take over. He can’t create all this momentum and then leave.”

Idianette Martinez, a Cuban American wearing a red Trump 2024 T-shirt, agreed with Kunst. “If DeSantis is smart, I don’t think he will run against Trump,” Martinez said. “He needs to stay governor and Trump has to become president again. There is no other way.”

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Francisco Alvarado

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