President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign team bashed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and criticized his leadership skills on Friday for causing the state to “become among the worst states” to live in and raise a family.
Steven Cheung, in a campaign email, put the Florida Republican on blast during a day where Trump delivered a speech ― and distributed pizza slices with his hands ― in Fort Myers.
“The real DeSantis record is one of misery and despair,” Cheung said in an email detailed by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
“He has left a wake of destruction all across Florida, and people are hurting because he has spent more time playing public relations games instead of actually doing the hard-work needed to improve the lives of the people he represents.”
The campaign’s message, titled “The Real Ron DeSantis Playbook,” continued to knock the Florida governor with a list of points linked to the state becoming “among the worst.”
“Under Ron DeSantis, Florida has become among the worst states… to live… find economic opportunity… work… retire… raise a family… pay taxes…be safe… rent a home… have a baby… afford energy… die… be a teacher… be a doctor… be a police officer... for millennials... for working dads [and] for working moms,” the email read.
Trump, who owns property in Mar-a-Lago and spoke at Florida’s Lee County GOP dinner on Friday, mocked DeSantis for his endorsement request and celebrated his position in polls against the governor, Florida Politics noted.
The former president has, as of Friday, stayed on top of DeSantis in the endorsement department as a potential primary battle between the two heats up.
Trump has collected endorsements from nine senators and 48 members of the House as of Friday, including, as NBC News noted, “more than half of the Florida Republicans serving in the House.”
DeSantis has thus far seen three endorsements in Congress, including one from Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), a former Secretary of State under his administration.
Trump has also maintained a lead over DeSantis in the polls, as a recent Wall Street Journal poll shows him with 48% compared to DeSantis’s 24% among likely GOP primary voters.