Trump Debuts Snazzy New Nickname For New Archnemesis Ron DeSantis

FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

For the last two weeks, so says his dear friend Maggie Haberman, Donald Trump has been testing out a new nickname for Ron DeSantis, which suggests that he's taken this venture more seriously than anything he did during his actual presidency. It's not clear how this works — whether it's just with the people around him or if he holds a little open mic sesh at Mar-a-lago where he tries out new material — but he finally debuted it this weekend while speaking to a rapt crowd in Pennsylvania as he campaigned for noted snake-oil purveyor Mehmet Oz and some guy named Doug.

Drum roll please ...

RON DESANCTIMONIOUS.

“"Ron DeSanctimonious"”

— Andrew Feinberg (@Andrew Feinberg) 1667694124 

“There it is, Trump at 71. Ron DeSanctimonious at 10 percent,” Trump said. “Mike Pence at 7–oh, Mike Pence doing better than I thought."

It's been six years and the man has never lost his enthusiasm for making fun of people's names. There's something to be said for that. Or not.

The unfortunate thing here is that this is a sure sign that he plans on running, which I suppose we all already knew. The upside is that it gives us a nice little Republicans in Ruin narrative going into Tuesday's election. DeSantis, is, after all, running for reelection against former governor (former Republican governor, now-Democrat) Charlie Crist, and while he's very far ahead in the polls ... Trump declaring him enemy #1 could have an effect.

Though in a normal world (ie: definitely not Florida) something like this picture of DeSantis, as an adult, having some beers with the underage girls while teaching at their high school. For the record, this is actual grooming. See how it is very different from telling children that gay people exist?

“Remember that time Ron DeSantis was a teacher in a private high school & he went to parties with the kids, where there was underage drinking & he took pictures cozied up with the girls who were not at all age of consent? Pepperidge Farm does, Mr. Groomer”

— The Jewish Ginger Resister (@The Jewish Ginger Resister) 1667737321 

The nickname has so far divided the fan base, with some supporting Trump unequivocally, saying they've soured on DeSantis ever since he supposedly started "cozying up" to Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and Jeb "Jeb!" Bush. In case you didn't know, they hate all of those people now.

Then there were those who were very hurt and upset by the nickname and worried that it could hurt DeSantis in the upcoming election.

Via The Daily Beast:  

“Calling it now, DeSantis is going to run, and he’s going to beat Trump badly,” Will Chamberlain, the publisher of Human Events and a right-wing lawyer, said in response to the Trump jab. “This is just weak.”

Right-wing Daily Wire pundit Matt Walsh also expressed frustration at Trump over the “dumb nickname.”

“Trump isn’t going to be able to take this one [DeSantis] down with a dumb nickname. He better have more than that up his sleeve,” he wrote . “Also, nice job launching your public attack against the most popular conservative governor in America three days before the midterms when we’re all supposed to be showing a united front.” [...]

RedState editor Jennifer Van Laar commented , “Enough, Trump. Stop. Move on,” while a Townhall writer asked what DeSantis has “done to earn Trump’s scorn here right before an election?” “It’s inexcusable and just shows this has always been about him,” the writer added .

Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX) sided with DeSantis, too, writing : “Or… Ron De…SaidNoToFauci… that’s another angle.”

AW. Trouble in paradise.

The ideal 2024 situation is that DeSantis and Trump both run, as it will divide the wacko vote and make room for a Romney-esque nominee that the base hates and will not show up for. Though there will likely be a certain amount of division no matter who the nominee is. It's highly unlikely that Trump will gain any new followers and will only be able to lose support, but his most rabid supporters are likely to follow his lead and turn on DeSantis, especially given that he now has "establishment" support.

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