According to a report from RelaClearPolitics, former President and 2024 candidate Donald Trump is blacklisting DeSantis staffers and anyone associated with the Florida governor signaling a potential 2024 showdown is on the horizon.
Trump says DeSantis staffers need not apply to work on his campaign.
“It’s a time for choosing,” a source close to the former president said. “If you work for Ron DeSantis’ presidential race, you will not work for the Trump campaign or in the Trump White House.”
From RealClearPolitics:
The threat comes as Trump enjoys a commanding lead in the 2024 GOP presidential primary field. A declared candidate unlike DeSantis, Trump remains the frontrunner and has built a double-digit advantage in early polling. He initially sounded ready to welcome the Florida governor to the primary race, telling reporters at CPAC last month the decision was “up to him.” And when asked about another challenger, his former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley who declared last month, Trump replied simply, “the more, the merrier.”
He apparently didn’t mean that literally. Trump has soured on DeSantis. His recent attacks are sharper than the usual nicknames that serve almost as a rite of passage for any rivals. The Florida governor is still “Ron DeSanctimonious,” but after an interview with Piers Morgan on Fox Nation, Trump responded by blasting DeSantis as “an average governor” and “a disciple of Paul Ryan.”
And while a DeSantis announcement isn’t expected until after Florida’s legislature wraps up its session later this spring, Trump is not waiting for the governor to make things official. Trump made that clear in a lengthy statement Wednesday night, writing that the potential rival’s “polls have crashed” and DeSantis “is finally admitting he is in the race by beginning to fight back.”
More over at RealClearPolitics:
This is not helpful. Actually…..It's very bad. https://t.co/pf3wyKVOG1
— Andrew Wilkow (@WilkowMajority) March 26, 2023