Former President Donald Trump shared an ad on Monday targeting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, highlighting the Sunshine State leader’s adoration of Trump in years past.
“Ron DeSantis was struggling big time in his primary race for governor of Florida,” the ad’s narrator states, harkening back to DeSantis’s tight race against Democrat Andrew Gillum in 2018.
“Polls revealed DeSantis was failing so bad. He was losing by a staggering 17 points. Then, DeSantis was saved by the endorsement of President Trump. Trump’s support was so powerful, just two days after the endorsement, DeSantis took a commanding lead, and it propelled him to being elected,” the narrator continued.
Indeed, even with Trump’s endorsement, DeSantis won the election by less than half a percentage point, or 32,463 votes.
The ad featured a clip of DeSantis thanking Trump for standing by him “when it wasn’t necessarily the smart thing to do.”
“You’re welcome, Ron. Unfortunately, instead of being grateful, DeSantis is now attacking the very man who saved his career,” the narrator continued. “Isn’t it time DeSantis remembers how he got to where he is?”
The ad then showed clips of an infamous 2018 ad in which DeSantis and his wife Casey showcased his devotion to all things Trump.
“Ron loves playing with the kids,” Casey said as DeSantis watched his child play with building blocks and offered these words of encouragement: “Build the wall.”
“He reads stories,” she continued, as the video cut to a clip of DeSantis reading to his son.
“Then Mr. Trump said, ‘You’re fired.’ I love that part,” he said.
“He’s teaching Madison to talk,” Casey continued as the ad cut to a clip of DeSantis showing his young daughter a MAGA sign, pointing at it, and stating, “Make America Great Again.”
“People say Ron’s all Trump, but he is so much more,” she said as the ad showed DeSantis’s son in a MAGA onesie.
“Big league. So good,” DeSantis said to the camera.
However, the Trump ad, paid for by Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc., concludes that “there’s only one person who can make America great again.”
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The ad comes as DeSantis continues to play it coy, teasing the possibility of a 2024 presidential bid. When asked about falling significantly behind in the polls, DeSantis told reporters, “I’m not a candidate, so we’ll see if and when that changes.”
WATCH:
Tuesday’s Morning Consult survey showed Trump with his largest lead yet over DeSantis, and Tuesday’s Real Clear Politics average of polls showed Trump leading by an average of 29 points.