Former president Donald Trump said on Saturday that he’s polling way above “Ron DeSanctimonious” for the GOP 2024 presidential nomination, in an early taste of the rivalry that’s widely expected to develop after next week’s midterms.
“Trump at 71, Ron DeSanctimonious at 10 percent, Mike Pence at 7 percent . . . Oh, Mike’s doing better than I thought,” Trump told a crowd of supporters at a rally in Latrobe, Pa., for Republican Senate and gubernatorial candidates Mehmet Oz and Doug Mastriano.
The fact that Trump assigned the governor of Florida a derogatory nickname is a telltale sign that he considers him a legitimate competitor for 2024 and that he is indeed gearing up to run. Governor Ron DeSantis has long been regarded a GOP rising star and a strong contender for president, one who could potentially have the conservative-populist credibility to take on Trump in a primary.
While presiding over the Sunshine State, DeSantis has demonstrated a willingness to apply government power to achieve conservative policy goals — incorporating some of Trump’s confrontational approach. For example, he enacted a mask mandate ban for K–12 public schools and a prohibition on teaching gender identity and sexual orientation to elementary-age children. Both laws received widespread support among residents. The hope of some Republicans who favor DeSantis over Trump is that he can pursue a similar agenda without the political baggage of the former president.
On the campaign trail, Trump has invented an epithet for virtually every rival he’s run against, both in the 2016 GOP primary and the 2016 and 2020 general-election contests.
He dubbed Republican senator Ted Cruz “Lyin’ Ted,” Republican senator Marco Rubio “Little Marco,” Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas,” 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton “Crooked Hillary,” and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden “Sleepy Joe,” to name a few.
While he snubbed DeSantis, a likely future adversary, Trump praised Oz and Mastriano on Saturday night as “America First” conservatives who will redeem Pennsylvania from the destruction inflicted by Democratic policies.
He repeated his usual, albeit unsupported, refrain that the 2020 presidential campaign was marred by voter fraud that handed Biden victory. “I’m so worried about Oz and Doug Mastriano,” he said. “The election was rigged and stolen, and we’re not going to let it happen again.”
A Muhlenberg College/Morning Call poll from last week showed the Senate race between Oz and Democratic nominee John Fetterman in a dead heat. Mastriano is currently more than ten points behind Democratic Pennsylvania attorney general Josh Shapiro in the governor’s contest, according to the Saturday average from FiveThirtyEight.
Trump pivoted to inflation, which he noted is costing the typical American household over $800 every month. “Who the hell voted for these people?” Trump exclaimed.
“There’s only one choice to end this madness, and it is indeed madness,” he said, imploring fans to “vote Republican in a giant red wave.”
Last week, President Biden delivered a dramatic speech at Union Station in Washington, D.C., in which he claimed that “democracy itself” is on the ballot in the midterm elections. On Saturday night, Trump scoffed at Biden’s accusation that “extremist” MAGA Republicans are inciting political violence. Biden’s address came after a mentally ill conspiracy theorist broke into House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home and brutally assaulted her husband. The suspect allegedly searched for the Democratic leader with the intent to abduct, interrogate, and physically harm her.
Trump also discussed the intimidation he said Democrats have engaged in against political adversaries. “If you mention a name, you get visited by the FBI. If someone’s looking at election integrity, you get visited by the FBI,” he said, in a nod to the multiple pro-life activists who’ve been arrested by the agency for alleged violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
“We have a weaponized Department of Justice and a weaponized FBI,” Trump added, referencing the raid on his Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago. The search was authorized by Attorney General Merrick Garland on the grounds that the former president mishandled confidential government documents.
Trump slammed the government for jailing and punishing individuals involved in the January 6 Capitol riot while these same government officials have largely ignored the riots that ravaged the country in the summer and fall of 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
“BLM and Antifa burned down cities, and nothing happens to them. It’s a disgrace. Two levels of justice. There’s no justice. It’s the opposite of justice. The people are not going to take it anymore,” he said.