Politics- Ron DeSantis called those who have blind allegiance to Donald Trump "listless vessels."
- He said many GOP members of Congress are judged on their loyalty to Trump rather than their records.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has angered Trump supporters by appearing to call them "listless vessels."
DeSantis made the comment while rejecting criticisms that he is a RINO — a "Republican in name only" — in an interview with the Florida Standard.
"We have a strand in our party that views supporting Trump as whether you are a RINO or not. And so you could be the most conservative person since sliced bread. Unless you're kissing his rear end, they will somehow call you a RINO," he said.
DeSantis listed several of his own conservative credentials and said that many Republican US Congress members are judged on their loyalty to Trump rather than on their records.
He said that criticisms of him being a RINO are "totally fabricated" and that "ultimately, a movement can't be about the personality of one individual."
"Because if you're not rooted in principle, if all we are is listless vessels that are just supposed to follow, whatever happens, to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that's not going to be a durable movement," DeSantis said.
'DeSantis goes full-blown Hillary'
Several Trump allies took to social media to criticize the governor and compare his comments to Hillary Clinton calling Trump supporters a "basket of deplorable" while she was on the campaign trail in 2016.
Karoline Leavitt, the spokesperson for Make America Great Again Inc, called on DeSantis to apologize and said: "To Hillary Clinton, Trump supporters are 'deplorables.' To Ron DeSantis, they are 'listless vessels.' The truth is, Trump supporters are patriots.
"The pressure of polling in third place is getting to DeSantis, and now he is lashing out at the very same voters who got him elected governor."
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, also weighed in: "DeSantis goes full-blown Hillary and calls MAGA supporters 'Listless Vessels.'"
Bryan Griffin, a spokesperson for DeSantis, doubled down on the governor's comments.
"The dishonest media refuses to report the facts — Donald Trump and some congressional endorsers are 'listless vessels.' Why? Because Trump and DC insiders feel he is entitled to your vote," Griffin said on X.
DeSantis has long been considered Trump's most significant political rival ahead of the Republican presidential primaries.
However, the former president has remained the clear frontrunner in the polls, and recent polling has shown DeSantis challenged by the businessman Vivek Ramaswamy for second place.
The first Republican primary debate will be on Wednesday, but The New York Times reported that Trump plans to skip it in favor of an interview with the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.