CNN’s Wallace: DeSantis Should ‘Be Careful’ — Trump Is ‘Undefeated Champion’ of Insult Politics

CNN anchor Chris Wallace said Friday on “CNN This Morning” that presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) should be careful about trading insults with former President Donald Trump because he is the “undefeated champion” of “insult politics.”

Partial transcript as follows: 

RAHEL SOLOMON: Joining us now with more on this is CNN anchor and host of Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, Chris Wallace. Chris, welcome. We’re on DeSantis no longer tiptoeing around the former president, Donald Trump, now that he’s a candidate. He’s called out Trump for siding with Disney, accusing him of increasing the national debt, criticizing past legislative bills. Trump, meantime, lashing out about DeSantis’s proposal to trim Social Security, Medicare spending, saying that DeSantis isn’t ready for the Oval Office. I mean, how do you think all of this will play with voters?

WALLACE: Well. I mean, we secretly we don’t probably don’t want to admit it, but secretly, at least political reporters love it. And the idea of these two guys going toe to toe, hand to hand, insult to insult. I mean, DeSantis has been a candidate, a formal candidate, for about three days. And we can look forward to this for about six or seven or eight months, depending how long the nomination battle goes. I will say this to Ron DeSantis: Be careful what you wish for. I covered the 2016 campaign. I saw Donald Trump up on that debate stage with seven or eight or ten other candidates. He’s really good at insult politics. And, you know, he’s the winner and undefeated champion of that. You can say, well, that’s a very questionable title, but he’s very good at it. I can remember one debate in Detroit in 2016 where they literally got into an argument about, Marco Rubio and he, about the size of Trump’s hands. Marco Rubio never recovered from that. Donald Trump didn’t blink and he went on to the nomination.

ERICA HILL: Yeah. I remember that moment well as well. One of many. So, yes, you’re right. Buckle up. But for political reporters, it’s going to be a lot.

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