Donald Trump has ridiculed Ron DeSantis after the Florida governor’s live campaign launch for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Twitter Spaces was beset by multiple glitches on Wednesday.
“Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH!” the former president wrote on the Truth Social platform, adopting a shortened version of the “DeSanctimonious” nickname he has coined to describe his fellow GOP hopeful.
In a separate post, Trump praised Senator Tim Scott’s campaign, which was officially announced on Monday. The former US leader did not miss the opportunity to compare Scott’s launch with that of DeSantis, which he branded a “catastrophe.”
The DeSantis campaign submitted a filing to the US Federal Election Commission confirming his run for president on Wednesday afternoon, and hours later he made the announcement on Twitter Spaces with CEO Elon Musk. However, the virtual event was marred by technical issues, meaning some users were unable to hear the speakers or access the live broadcast altogether.
The Florida governor was polling several percentage points ahead of Trump in the race for the Republican nomination as recently as February, according to a Yahoo/YouGov survey, although the former president has forged ahead in recent months.
Despite his indictment on criminal charges of falsifying business records in New York City in early April, Trump now enjoys the support of 53% of Republican voters compared to 26% for DeSantis, a CNN poll on Wednesday indicated.
All the other contenders for the GOP nomination are trailing far behind the pair.
Trump has repeatedly criticized his main rival, calling DeSantis “disloyal” and a “RINO (Republican in name only) globalist.” The former president has also taken credit for DeSantis being elected as Florida governor in 2018.
DeSantis has refused to engage in a war of words with Trump, stressing he does not “spend my time trying to smear other Republicans.” The Florida governor insisted that all his efforts were focused on defeating the Democrat incumbent, Joe Biden.