Former President Donald Trump has again taken aim at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, this time calling him a “globalist sellout” who has “sided with communists.”
DeSantis is Trump’s toughest challenger among Republican presidential candidates seeking the nomination. While Trump continuously ranks as the top Republican candidate in most polls, DeSantis follows in second place.
Despite praising DeSantis in the past, Trump has recently begun increasing his attacks against the Florida governor for being “disloyal” by challenging him for the presidency.
During the Friday campaign stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Trump touted himself as “the most pro-farmer president in history” and claimed that a DeSantis presidency would be a “catastrophe” for farmers.
“I think no president has ever come close to me for fighting for farmers,” Trump said in announcing the launch of a “Farmers for Trump” coalition.
“I’m proud to be the most pro-farmer president that you’ve ever had in the White House,” he said. “We did more for American agriculture than any administration in history by far.”
“[DeSantis] would be a catastrophe for farmers of Nebraska and Iowa and anyplace else,” Trump told the crowd, according to Newsmax.
He said the Florida governor was a Republican in the tradition of former House Speaker Paul Ryan, one of his most prominent Republican opponents, or Karl Rove, the GOP strategist and White House adviser during the George W. Bush presidency.
“DeSanctus, as I call him… is a globalist sellout, a Paul Ryan and Karl Rove acolyte who is in the pocket of Wall Street donors at the Club for No Growth,” Trump said.
“You know what I call them also: the Club for China Growth… They don’t like me too much. They would outsource every American farming job to a foreign country. This is what Ron DeSanctimonious wants to do,” he added, according to Newsmax.
The Club for Growth, as it is actually called, is a conservative advocacy group that works to put “maximum pressure on lawmakers to vote like free-market, limited government conservatives.”
The group is apparently not keen on another Trump presidency, according to Newsmax, which described it as having “warmer relations” with DeSantis.
Speaking to his Iowa audience, Trump touted his own support for ethanol additives to gasoline.
“[DeSantis] has been fighting for years — don’t forget he was a congressman — to kill every single job supported by this very important industry,” Trump said, referring to when DeSantis co-sponsored a bill in 2017 that would have ended a federal mandate requiring ethanol be added to transportation fuel.
Ethanol is primarily corn-based and its mandated use is big boost to the farming industry. If its use in fuel is discontinued then farmers could suffer significant losses.
“Ending the renewable fuel standard was one of his top priorities as a member of Congress,” Trump said, according to Newsmax. “If he had his way, the entire economy of Iowa would absolutely collapse.”
“DeSanctus slandered the ethanol mandate as ‘socialism’ and called his vicious plan to annihilate the Iowa farming industry as a total no-brainer.”
Trump went on to claim that DeSantis opposed his 2018 tariffs on China, saying: “DeSanctus sided with the communists in China; I sided with the farmers in America.”
Many on social media were quick to point out, however, that DeSantis actually praised Trump’s tariffs and has signed multiple bills in the past targeting China.
In May, DeSantis signed a bill that would restrict those with ties to the Chinese government from purchasing land in Florida.
DeSantis also issued an executive order last year aimed at strengthening the state’s cybersecurity against foreign adversaries, including China.
Responding to Trump’s claims, a spokesperson for DeSantis accused Trump of “distorting the governor’s record” in order to save his “eroding support” in Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register.
“As president, Ron DeSantis will be a champion for farmers and use every tool available to open new markets,” DeSantis campaign press secretary Bryan Griffin said, the Register reported.
“He has proven himself to be the fighter America needs to stand up to the Chinese Communist Party to protect U.S. interests, farmers, and workers.”
via westernjournal