Trump angrily disowned his loyalist former press secretary as a ‘RINO’ for citing poll numbers that didn’t show him beating DeSantis by enough
- Donald Trump accused Kayleigh McEnany of citing the "wrong" poll numbers on Fox News.
- "I am 34 points up on DeSanctimonious, not 25 up," the former president said in a Truth Social post.
Former President Donald Trump angrily disowned his former press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, after she claimed that Ron DeSantis was closing in on him in the polls.
In a post on Truth Social page, Trump accused McEnany of citing the "wrong" poll numbers on Fox News and suggested that she was a "RINO," or "Republican in name only."
"Kayleigh 'Milktoast' McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers on FoxNews," Trump wrote.
"I am 34 points up on DeSanctimonious, not 25 up. While 25 is great, it's not 34. She knew the number was corrected upwards by the group that did the poll. The RINOS & Globalists can have her. FoxNews should only use REAL Stars!!!"
Trump apparently meant to say "milquetoast," an adjective meaning a weak or feeble person, which derives from a popular comic strip from the early 20th century about a timid character called 'Casper Milquetoast.'
McEnany made the claim during a Tuesday night interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters.
She was apparently citing data last week by Trump's pollsters, McLaughlin and Associates, which found that DeSantis had gained nine points against Trump, reducing his polling lead from 34 to 25 points.
McEnany was an ardent Trump loyalist, and served as White House press secretary for much of 2020, defending his response to the COVID-19 pandemic and backing his false claims of victory in the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden.
After leaving the White House she has worked as a Fox News contributor, and advised Trump to delay announcing his 2024 candidacy after the GP's disappointing 2022 midterm results.
Iowa is the first state to hold its 2024 Republican presidential primaries, and competition between the candidates ahead of the vote is already intensifying.
An Emerson College poll released last Thursday said Trump had a 42 point lead over his rivals in Iowa.