(DailyVantage.com) – On Monday night former President Trump sat down for an extensive interview with Newsmax’s Greg Kelly.
During the course of the interview, it became very clear that Trump’s relationship with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has deteriorated, perhaps beyond repair.
When asked if he thought DeSantis would make a good President in the future, Trump answered evasively, saying that he was disappointed by DeSantis’s lack of loyalty to him.
“I endorsed and once and he was losing badly and because of the endorsement he won in a landslide literally the following day”, he said of DeSantis.
Trump was, of course, referring to the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election between DeSantis and former Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum. For a while, Gillum was favored to beat DeSantis handily. Trump’s endorsement of DeSantis, however, proved to be pivotal.
Ultimately, DeSantis won by a razor thin margin: 49.6% to 49.2%. The results were so close that officials ordered a machine recount that confirmed DeSantis’s victory.
Subsequent to winning the Governorship, DeSantis often touted his close relationship with President Trump. The two frequently appeared together.
Ever since DeSantis has begun flirting with a 2024 Presidential bid, however, the two have become bitter rivals, with Trump routinely taking to Truth Social to lambast the Florida Governor.
And while DeSantis has not officially declared his candidacy, he remains the only formidable challenger to Trump. Declared candidates, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Asa Hutchinson, and Larry Elder are all polling in the low single digits.
DeSantis, on the other hand, consistently puts up numbers in the 20s and 30s.
Though, as of late, Trump appears to be running away with the Republican Party nomination. A Harvard-Harris poll released on April 19th has the former President with a substantial 35-point lead over the Florida Governor, who is struggling to regain his previous momentum.
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