Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) lashed out at former President Trump at a campaign event Thursday, knocking his age and saying Republicans nominating Trump in 2024 would actually help Democrats.
“He energized Democrats. You could have John Kennedy walk through the door right now and he wouldn’t energize Democrats as much as Donald Trump does,” DeSantis said in Tampa, Fla. “That’s just the reality.”
The Florida governor remains in distant second behind Trump in national GOP primary polls and has dropped behind other candidates in some early state polls. DeSantis has stepped up attacks on the former president in recent weeks, after largely avoiding taking shots at his chief rival earlier in the campaign.
He said Thursday that Trump likely “couldn’t even stop Joe Biden,” and that the 77-year-old former president doesn’t have the energy to run for the White House again.
“We need a president that’s going to be full throttle for eight years,” the 45-year-old said. “We don’t need any more presidents that have lost the zip on their fastball.”
The governor also deflected concerns about his campaign fundraising; recently released campaign finance filings show that Trump raised about triple the amount DeSantis raised in the third quarter.
He argued his money is “being spent on actually delivering the victories that we know we need,” pointing to Trump’s mounting legal fees.
The Trump campaign responded by attacking DeSantis’s own energy.
“Ron DeSantis has the energy of a used wet rag,” spokesman Steven Cheung told The Associated Press. “This is nothing more than a desperate attempt of a flailing candidate who is in the last throes of his campaign.”
“This tough guy routine from DeSantis is laughable, because the only thing tough about him is his ability to embarrass himself every single day on the campaign trail,” he added.
Trump and Biden are neck and neck in early polls positing a 2020 election rematch. Biden took a slight lead over Trump in recent weeks, as Republicans struggled over federal budget negotiations in Congress and a chaotic Speaker election.