Former President Donald Trump blasted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis during a campaign rally in South Dakota on Friday, saying he “sided with the Communists in China.”
Trump also blasted DeSantis for wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare.
“You know a guy who was very disloyal ’cause I got him elected, so I call him Ron DeSanctimonious,” Trump said. “He strongly opposed my protection for our farmers. I protected our farmers very simply, and by the way those farmers got big checks. Any farmers in here got big checks? Yes? Yes. Oh, he’s happy. But that goes to the people, that goes to the workers, it goes to everybody.”
Trump famously gave $28 billion from Chinese tariffs to American farmers.
The Republican frontrunner for the 2024 nomination continued, “Very simply, DeSanctus sided with the communists in China and he fought very hard that this not take place. He also opposed Medicare and he opposed a thing called Social Security.”
Trump said that people close to him have told him not to worry about DeSantis, but that he will keep fighting until it’s over.
“So now I’m sure he’s changed, I don’t know, I don’t watch him, he’s gotten so low in the polls I’m not really watching him,” Trump said. “They say, ‘Sir, forget about him, he’s gone.’ I say, ‘No, nobody’s gone, nobody’s gone until it’s over,’ right? It ain’t over ’til it’s over. Yogi, the great Yogi Bear, a great philosopher. But DeSanctimonious voted to cut Social Security. Think of it. Social Security, three times, voted. Hands up, voted. He is a disciple of Paul Ryan.”
The crowd loudly booed at the mention of Ryan.
Trump continued, “And he wanted to raise, and he will raise if he ever got in here, which I don’t think is gonna happen, not even in four years, but he wanted to raise the minimum age to 70. That’s a big deal. He also wanted to hit Medicare and hit it very, very hard.”