Ron DeSantis says which Trump nickname he prefers
Donald Trump’s likely sparing partner in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination said the former prez can call him whatever he wants, including “winner.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was asked by Piers Morgan if he preferred to be called “Ron DeSanctimonious” or “Meatball Ron” by his mentor-turned-rival, in an interview set to air Thursday on TalkTV’s “Piers Morgan Uncensored.”
The Republican told Morgan he didn’t know “how to spell the sanctimonious one.”
“I don’t really know what it means, but I kind of like it. It’s long, it’s got a lot of vowels. We’ll go with that. That’s fine,” he quipped.
DeSantis then added: “You can call me whatever you want, just as long as you also call me a winner.”
While DeSantis, 44, has not publicly said that he will run for the White House in 2024, he had been laying the groundwork for his likely candidacy for months and has told allies in private conversations that he will throw his hat in the ring.
Trump, who has a penchant for branding his political rivals and enemies with schoolyard nicknames, said last month he wouldn’t use the “Meatball” moniker for the Italian-American because it was “inappropriate.” He had shortened “DeSanctimonious” to “DeSanctus” for brevity in recent stump speeches.
Trump has also called his former protégé “Shutdown Ron,” a reference to the COVID-19 restrictions the Republican enacted in Florida in the early months of the 2020 pandemic.
DeSantis — who trails Trump by an average of 15% in recent polls averaged by RealClearPolitics — told Morgan to “stay tuned” for an upcoming announcement regarding his bid for the White House, Morgan wrote in an editorial featured on the front page of The Post Wednesday.
In the op-ed, Morgan details his upcoming conversation with DeSantis at length.
The Sunshine State guv, who was re-elected in a landslide last November, told Morgan that Trump’s constant attempts to provoke him are just “background noise.”
“It’s not important for me to be fighting with people on social media. It’s not accomplishing anything for the people I represent,” he said.
“So, we really just focus on knocking out victories, day after day, and if I got involved in all the under tow I would not be able to be an effective Governor.
“So, I don’t think it’s something that makes sense for me.”
DeSantis also seemed to shade the former president’s leadership style, telling Morgan he runs the government with “no daily drama.”
He also spoke of how his relationship with Trump soured, with Morgan telling him he made a “fatal error” by becoming “too popular.”
Morgan then alludes to Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein, telling DeSantis, “Dr. Frankenstein creates a monster then loses control of the monster and then the monster ends up killing him. You know the parallel I’m making…”
DeSantis responded, “Let’s put the country first rather than worry about any personalities or any type of individual,” adding that it isn’t about him, but the people he represents.
“That’s true,” Morgan said in his piece. “But you’re up against somebody who definitely cares who gets the credit, and who’s desperate to want to win back the White House.”
DeSantis then replied: “Well, I’m not up against anybody quite yet.”
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