President Donald Trump has disputed media reports of tensions between himself and Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
Reports have claimed there’s a feud between the two Republicans due to the longshot chance they would face each other in a 2024 election battle.
Trump went on Fox News last night with Sean Hannity to throw cold water on those rumors.
The 45th president blasted the shoddy reporting as “totally fake news” before saying there was “absolutely” no fighting and that DeSantis was doing “a terrific job” as governor.
“I get along great with Ron,” Trump told Hannity.
“Ron was very good on the Mueller hoax.
“He was right in front along with Jim Jordan and all of the rest of them.
“They were fantastic. Republicans really stuck together.
“It was a great thing, and Ron was one of them.
“Ron wanted to run, and I endorsed him. and I helped him greatly, and he went on.
“He’s done a really terrific job in Florida.
“Ron’s been very good, he’s been a friend of mine for a long time.
“It’s totally fake news,” Trump asserted.
“I think Ron said it last week, he said it very publicly, ‘The press is never going to get in the middle of my friendship with Donald Trump. We’re not going to do that stuff.’
“And he said it very strongly, which I thought was really interesting, actually, and very nice.
“And he said that, and I agree with him 100%.
“I have a very good relationship with Ron and intend to for a long time.”
WATCH:
BREAKING: President Trump calls reports of fighting between him and Gov. Ron DeSantis “Totally Fake News”
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 21, 2022
The governor has also trashed the claims as political propaganda intended to create a divide between the two men who could likely end up on the same ticket.
“Don’t take the bait, and just kind of keep on keeping on,” DeSantis said last week on a podcast.
“We need everybody united for a big red wave in 2022.”
From Florida Politics:
The comments came in the wake of widely reported tensions between the two, including claims it would be “too much to ask” for DeSantis to preemptively endorse another Trump term in 2024, while he lamented a “dull” DeSantis.
Those on the Trump side of the divide are more willing to stoke the fires of discontent than DeSantis adherents seem to be.
On Wednesday, Lara Trump discounted rumors of “bad blood” between the two Republicans while suggesting Florida’s Governor may need “another opportunity” to demonstrate his support for Trump ahead of 2024.
That same day, Trump associate Roger Stone — teasing his own third-party challenge to DeSantis’ re-election in 2022 — released a video claiming the former President had to “drag (DeSantis) over the finish line” in 2018.
DeSantis’ press secretary Christina Pushaw said:
“All these stories were merely attempts by corporate media activists to distract from President Biden’s failures.
“It is not a coincidence that this fabricated media narrative emerged during perhaps the worst week of Biden’s presidency, as it became clear last week that Biden would not be able to deliver on Build Back Better, enact sweeping legislation to federalize elections, or ‘shut down the virus,’ as he had promised repeatedly during the 2020 campaign.”
