Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) hit back at House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Monday, accusing him of being a member of the "DC establishment" and slamming him and former President Donald Trump for adding to the national debt in the latter's time in office.

DeSantis laughed heartily when a reporter asked him what he made of McCarthy's comments, where the House speaker predicted Trump will be the GOP nominee for president in 2024 and said DeSantis is "not at the same level" as Trump.

HERE ARE THE HOUSE REPUBLICANS WHO HAVE PLEDGED TO VOTE NO ON STOPGAP SPENDING MEASURE

The 2024 presidential hopeful used the moment to lump McCarthy and Trump together and take aim at an issue where the speaker is feeling intense pressure from those within his own conference: the government's spending as a shutdown looms.

"Kevin McCarthy says I’m a little different from Donald Trump. I agree," DeSantis said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). "Meanwhile, McCarthy and Trump worked together to add $7 trillion — more debt than our country racked up in its first 200 years — to the debt in just four years. It’s understandable that the DC Establishment doesn’t want me to be president — and I wear that as a badge of honor."

The Florida governor also made sure to underscore his priorities while leading the Sunshine State. "In Florida, we run budget surpluses. We’ve paid down our debt. I’ve kept every one of my promises," he added.

DeSantis has long been seen as the main challenger to Trump in the Republican 2024 primary. However, his campaign has failed to gain momentum, and rather than move closer to the former president in the polls, he has seen the gap between them widen.

McCarthy said in an interview on Sunday Morning Futures that he thinks Trump will be the GOP nominee next year. "And the thing is, President Trump is stronger today than he was in 2016 or 2020, and there’s a reason why. They saw the policies of what he was able to do with America, putting America first, making our economy stronger. We didn’t have inflation. We didn’t have these battles around the world. We didn’t look weak around the world."

"I served with Ron DeSantis, he’s not at the same level as President Trump by any shape or form. He would not have gotten elected without President Trump’s endorsement," McCarthy added.

McCarthy finds himself in a difficult position as a group of hard-line conservatives refuse to agree to a continuing resolution that would keep the government from shutting down at the end of this month unless their demands are met, many of which revolve around the government's spending for the next fiscal year.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

DeSantis has largely positioned himself in alignment with the far-right Republicans, placing emphasis on the national debt and what McCarthy and Trump did to raise it from their positions of power. It falls in line with certain actions he has taken on the campaign trail, pitching himself as further right than Trump in key areas, such as abortion.

With McCarthy feeling pressure from those within his conference and DeSantis seeing his hopes of becoming the GOP 2024 nominee slipping away, both notable Republicans could use a victory soon, even, or perhaps especially, if it comes at the other's expense.