DeSantis believes ‘millions’ won’t vote for Trump over ‘juvenile insults’

RYE, N.H. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed the increasingly frequent attacks from former President Donald Trump as the two compete for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

“I think a lot of the stuff – when he hits me with the juvenile insults – I think that helps me,” DeSantis said. “I don’t think voters like that.”

“I think they look at it and they realize, like – you know what, that’s not effective,” he continued. “I don’t think it’s effective, so I actually don’t mind it at all.”

“I think it’s just a reminder why there are so many millions of voters who will never vote for him going forward.”

Trump, perceived as the frontrunner for the nomination, has used nicknames for DeSantis like “DeSanctimonious,” dating back to late-2022, and “DeSanctus,” a more recent one.

The DeSantis War Room, an arm of his campaign on social media, posted a video cutting to each time the former president referred to DeSantis by name, or nickname, at a recent campaign rally.

After his campaign launch, DeSantis sounded off on Trump’s name-calling, referring to it as “petty” that contributed to alienating voters.

“I think it’s so petty,” he said. “I think it’s so juvenile. I don’t think that’s what voters want and honestly, I think that his conduct, which he’s been doing for years now, I think that’s one of the reasons he’s not in the White House now.”

“I think he alienated too many voters for things that really don’t matter. So I don’t get in the gutter on any of that,” DeSantis continued.

He said voters want to see “substantive debates,” to which DeSantis pointed to the two candidates’ disagreement on COVID-19 – Trump praising former Democrat New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s response – along with amnesty for illegal aliens, which Trump tried to approve in a compromise for border wall funding.

DeSantis pivoted back to the name-calling, saying elections can’t be on by “alienating” voters.

“I won almost 60% of the vote in a swing state. You don’t do that by alienating people. You do that by attracting people who want to share your vision, and appreciate the accomplishments and the results that you’ve delivered for them,” he said.

“I don’t care about any of that, but I think it is a distraction and I think it turns off the voters,” DeSantis went on.

“How are we going to be able to win dependent voters in New Hampshire and other key states if we’re going to be engaged in that type of that type of back and fort? I think the voters are sick of it.”