Donald Trump calls Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis an ‘average governor’, takes credit for his first term in first direct attack | Florida News | Orlando

Former President Donald Trump is hearing footsteps.

That’s the only explanation for a long-winded rant he posted to his personal social media platform Truth Social following Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ landslide victory in the midterms.

DeSantis’ shellacking of challenger Charlie Crist was cause for celebration for the GOP writ large, but Trump took the opportunity to call DeSantis an “average governor” who is boosted by the natural conditions of his state and little else.

He accused the right-wing media of being “all in for Governor Ron DeSanctimonious, an average Republican Governor with great Public Relations, who didn’t have to close up his State.” He added that DeSantis’ much-touted population growth numbers, which he uses to bolster his case against Democrat-run states like New York and California, are merely the result of geography.

“[He] has the advantage of SUNSHINE, where people from badly run States up North would go no matter who the Governor was, just like I did!” Trump said, before accusing DeSantis of the gravest sin in Trump’s mind: disloyalty.

“Now, Ron DeSanctimonious is playing games! The Fake News asks him if he’s going to run if President Trump runs, 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 also said that he masterminded DeSantis’ first gubernatorial win, something he’s hinted at before.

“Ron came to me in desperate shape in 2017—he was politically dead, losing in a landslide to a very good Agriculture Commissioner,” he said. “Ron had low approval, bad polls, and no money, but he said that if I would Endorse him, he could win…I then got Ron by the ‘Star’ of the Democrat Party, Andrew Gillum (who was later revealed to be a ‘Crack Head’), by having two massive Rallies with tens of thousands of people at each one.”

The heated and paranoid statement comes as DeSantis is widely considered the front-runner to run for president on the Republican ticket in 2024. DeSantis has played it close to the vest when asked about his White House aspirations, but that hasn’t stopped Trump from threatening to throw his own campaign kick-off on DeSantis’ doorstep.

Trump has shared that he’s announcing something on November 15, widely believed to be his campaign launch. DeSantis has yet to confirm or deny a presidential run.