Former President Donald Trump hit out against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) after he insulted the GOP front-runner’s fan base, comparing the Florida governor to Hillary Clinton in a statement demanding an apology from his election challenger.
Trump demanded an apology after DeSantis referred to the former president’s supporters as “listless vessels,” accusing the Florida Republican of turning on the very same voter base that first elected him as governor in 2018.
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“To Hillary Clinton, Trump supporters are ‘deplorables.’ To Ron DeSantis, they are ‘listless vessels,’” said Karoline Leavitt, spokeswoman for Make America Great Again Inc., referring to comments from Trump’s rival in 2016. “The truth is, Trump supporters are patriots. Ron DeSantis is showing his true colors. The pressure of polling in third place is getting to DeSantis, and now he is lashing out at the very same voters who got him elected governor. DeSantis must immediately apologize for his disgraceful insult.”
The demand for an apology comes after DeSantis urged Republican voters to move past Trump’s “personality” and instead support candidates who embody conservative values.
“If all we are is listless vessels that are just supposed to follow … whatever happens to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that’s not going to be a durable movement,” DeSantis told the Florida Standard earlier this week. “You could be the most conservative person since sliced bread. Unless you’re kissing his rear end, they will somehow call you a RINO. So it’s been totally detached from principle in what you actually believe and results.”
Bryan Griffin, press secretary for DeSantis’s campaign, defended the governor’s comments on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, saying the media had misconstrued his statement.
“The dishonest media refuses to report the facts — Donald Trump and some congressional endorsers are ‘listless vessels,'” Griffin wrote. “Why? Because Trump and DC insiders feel he is entitled to your vote. @RonDeSantis believes your trust should be earned and has the vision, plan, and record to beat Joe Biden and reverse the decline of our country. That’s why Ron DeSantis will be showing up on Wednesday night to debate, and Donald Trump will not.”
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The comments come as Trump continues to dominate early polling in the race despite facing 91 felony charges stemming from four separate criminal indictments.
More than half (54.4%) of Republican voters say they would back Trump in the GOP primaries, according to data compiled by FiveThirtyEight. DeSantis comes in at a distant second at 15.4%, followed by Vivek Ramaswamy (7.9%), former Vice President Mike Pence (5.1%), and Nikki Haley (3.7%).
