Trump on DeSantis as VP pick: ‘Pretty unlikely’

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (FLV) – Former President Trump expressed doubts about the possibility of selecting the Gov. Ron DeSantis as his vice presidential candidate, stating that it was “pretty unlikely.”

The comments were made during an episode of the Todd Starnes Show Monday.

The former president implied that the chances of selecting the Florida governor as his running mate would have been higher if DeSantis had not entered the presidential race.

“I was very surprised that he did,” Trump said. “Without that, it would have been a distinct possibility.”

In May, Trump pointed to his support helping DeSantis achieve the Florida governorship in 2018.

“Look, Rob DeSanctimonious came to me asking for help. He was losing badly, by 31 points, to popular Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam,” he said. “He was getting ready to drop out of the race – Ran a terrible campaign! Ron told me he had one last chance, my Support & Endorsement, which Putnam, and everyone else, wanted also.”

Trump added, “I gave it to Ron, and the race was over. In one day, he went from losing badly, to winning by a lot. With 3 LARGE TRUMP RALLIES, he WON THE GENERAL ELECTION in an upset. DISLOYAL!!!”

Trump also attacked DeSantis in March, before he announced his highly anticipated presidential campaign, and stated that people were not moving to Florida from New York because of the governor.

“People are fleeing from New York to Florida and other places because of high taxes and out of control crime,” he said.

“It’s not because of the governor – Florida was doing fantastically. You had a governor named Rick Scott who did a very good job,” Trump added.

After announcing his campaign for president on May 24, DeSantis wasted no time hitting back at Trump with the attacks from both sides escalating quickly over the past couple of weeks.

“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.

The increasingly frequent attacks come as both candidates travel across early voting states, hosting events and town halls in states such as Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.