DeSantis says Trump’s ‘juvenile insults’ help him

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said “juvenile insults” toward him from former President Trump, a fellow 2024 GOP presidential candidate, have helped him.

DeSantis made the remarks during a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Sunday. 

“First of all, I mean, I think a lot of this stuff when he hits me with it with juvenile insults, I think that helps me,” DeSantis told reporters. “I don’t think voters like that. I think they look at it and they realize, like, you know what, that’s not effective. And so I don’t think it’s effective.” 

DeSantis also said Trump’s insults are just another reminder that millions of voters will not vote for him during this election cycle. 

“So I actually don’t mind that at all,” DeSantis added. “I think it’s just a reminder, why there’s so many millions of voters who will never vote for him going forward.”

Trump has targeted DeSantis with a slew of insults throughout the campaign cycle, referring to the governor as “Ron DeSanctimonious.” Trump took his latest shot at DeSantis during the Iowa GOP’s Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines last week, telling constituents that he “wouldn’t take a chance on that one.” 

DeSantis, who was once seen as a key challenger to Trump for the Republican Party’s 2024 nomination, has fallen in polls since announcing his presidential campaign in May. 

The 44-year-old governor recently laid off 38 staff members as his campaign seeks to revamp itself.