Trump Campaign Releases Ad with New Nickname for DeSantis
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has unveiled a new nickname for Ron DeSantis in a new ad targeting Florida’s Republican governor.
The verified Trump War Room account rolled out a Twitter ad Tuesday that accused DeSantis of forcing Floridians to remain in their homes during the COVID pandemic.
The blistering ad, which was fact-checked by Twitter’s community notes feature, also offered the governor a new moniker: “Lockdown Ron.”
“Lockdown Ron DeSantis shut Florida down during the pandemic, much more so than other states,” Trump War Room declared. “Now he’s trying to gaslight the American people into thinking otherwise.”
The post, which contained a 30-second ad targeting DeSantis, concluded, “He’s a liar and a fraud who can’t be trusted.”
Lockdown Ron DeSantis shut Florida down during the pandemic, much more so than other states. Now he’s trying to gaslight the American people into thinking otherwise.
He’s a liar and a fraud who can’t be trusted. pic.twitter.com/RV6DrR96vM
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) June 20, 2023
Trump has previously referred to DeSantis as “Ron DeSanctimonious,” Rob” and “Meatball Ron.”
A community notes label contradicted the tweet by citing an article from The New York Post that contains quotes of Trump praising DeSantis’ decisions as governor.
The note read, “Trump praised DeSantis’ leadership in reopening FL.”
The community note also offered links to two Florida government website pages.
In one, Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez praised DeSantis for urging seniors and other vulnerable people to “stay home” to avoid contracting the illness.
Nuñez wrote, “Governor DeSantis did not take a ‘one size fits all’ approach to mitigating the threat of COVID-19 in our large and diverse state. The plan was measured and mitigation efforts were targeted.”
The other link takes Twitter users to a phased “reopening” plan unveiled by DeSantis weeks into the pandemic.
The verified DeSantis War Room Twitter account also pounced on the Trump War Room tweet with a video of occasions in which Trump praised the governor and the decision to open Florida even as other states mandated their citizens to lockdown.
You’re embarrassing yourselves.
Here’s Donald Trump repeatedly praising @RonDeSantis for keeping Florida OPEN and FREE. https://t.co/Sk4dmNFacR pic.twitter.com/3ylfizGTeT
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) June 20, 2023
The account wrote, “You’re embarrassing yourselves. Here’s Donald Trump repeatedly praising @RonDeSantis for keeping Florida OPEN and FREE.”
The dueling tweets were each shared as Trump and DeSantis have escalated attacks against one another.
Trump has held a sizable lead over the rest of the 2024 Republican Party primary field — including DeSantis — for months.
One CNN poll released on Tuesday showed that the lead had slipped but Trump still led the governor by 21 points, or 47 percent to 26 percent.
Former Vice President Mike Pence came in a distant third with the support of 9 percent of those polled.
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