Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) slightly sharpened his defense against former President Donald Trump's broadsides Tuesday, noting "it's silly season" as their potential 2024 clash looms.
Trump has stepped up his offensive against DeSantis in recent days, crowing about favorable polling, tying him with the GOP establishment, and bashing his pandemic record, while deploying disparaging nicknames such as "Ron DeSanctimonious" or "Ron DeSanctus."
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"It’s silly season," DeSantis said on the Brian Kilmeade Show Tuesday. "You know how some of this stuff goes, and obviously he does his thing and that’s kind of who he is."
Trump has sporadically taken aim at DeSantis in the time since the 2022 midterm elections. In response, DeSantis has refrained from getting mired in a back-and-forth with Trump, typically deferring to his record as governor.
Despite their potential collision course, DeSantis heaped praise on Trump in his new book The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival, crediting him for standing up to the "old guard" in Washington, D.C. and for helping to boost his national profile.
"What I wanted to do was give an honest appraisal of how we got to this point, the failures of the D.C. Republican establishment, and how Donald Trump was speaking to things that some of the old guard refused to address," DeSantis said of his book.
Trump, a famous rhetorical brawler, has not returned the favor, wearily eyeing his threat, who is his chief GOP primary rival according to a deluge of recent polls.
"Ron DeSanctimonious wants to cut your Social Security and Medicare," Trump wrote in a recent Trump Social screed, "closed up Florida & its beaches, loves RINOS Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, and Karl Rove (disasters ALL!), is backed by Globalist’s Club for NO Growth, Lincoln Pervert Project, & ‘Uninspired’ Koch — And it only gets worse."
He also dubbed DeSantis a "RINO in disguise," as he continues his preemptive strikes against the Florida governor. Still, DeSantis was keen on not taking the bait.
"I always give him credit for the things that he did that were positive, and I’m appreciative of a lot of things that he did," DeSantis added. "Doesn’t mean I agree with everything that he’s doing lately or whatever, but ultimately it’s about delivering for the people you represent and delivering for the country, so I wasn’t really into kind of trying to throw potshots at anybody."
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Trump is set to address the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., this week, an event featuring grassroots conservatives that DeSantis will skip. Instead, DeSantis is expected to attend the Club for Growth’s private donor retreat and appear at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library as well.
Complementing his book launch, DeSantis will travel to at least three battleground states over the coming weeks and has hinted a 2024 decision will come after the Florida legislative session wraps up in May.