Trump denies report that he calls DeSantis 'Meatball Ron': 'I don't even think about it — A very unimportant subject to me!!!'
- Trump denied a New York Times report that he is testing out nicknames for DeSantis.
- He has privately been calling the Florida governor "Meatball Ron," the report said.
Former President Donald Trump insists that he spends little time thinking about the person who is shaping up to be his biggest Republican rival in 2024.
On Monday, Trump took to his social media company, Truth Social, to deny a Sunday report in The New York Times that said Trump has been workshopping nicknames for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and asking his team for damning material.
"All of the Fake News is reporting that I spend large amounts of my time coming up with a good 'nickname' for Ron DeSanctimonious, who is obviously going to give the presidential 'thing' a shot," Trump wrote. "They are all 100% wrong, I don't even think about it — A very unimportant subject to me!!!"
The nicknames, shared by anonymous sources to the New York Times, included "Meatball Ron" and "Shutdown Ron," a reference to the governor shutting down Florida at the start of the pandemic.
Florida was one of the earliest states to reopen, however, despite heavy criticism, and the Trump administration, under direction from federal health officials, encouraged states to shut down.
During his 2016 race for the White House, Trump gave many of his opponents derisive nicknames that had a tendency to stick. He called Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas "Lyin' Ted," former GOP Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida "Low Energy Jeb," and Hillary Clinton "Crooked Hillary."
DeSantis is widely viewed as a leading contender for the 2024 Republican nomination for president, though he hasn't stated his intentions and Trump is the only one to have made a candidacy official. DeSantis consistently polls as the top Republican, behind Trump, that's supported by GOP voters in a hypothetical White House primary.
The DeSantis campaign hasn't been responding to Trump's attacks. On February 8, DeSantis said he was focused on Florida and fighting President Joe Biden.
"I don't spend my time trying to smear other Republicans," he said.
In recent months Trump has claimed credit for getting DeSantis elected, claimed DeSantis cried in front of him while asking for an endorsement in 2018, and branded DeSantis as "average" and "very disloyal."
Trump first attacked DeSantis right before Election Day, calling him "Ron DeSantimonious." He told reporters that he voted for the governor, but he did not campaign with him or provide the same ringing endorsement as he did during Florida's 2018 gubernatorial election — one that helped DeSantis sinch the nomination.
DeSantis won reelection in the state resoundingly regardless, by nearly 20 points.
Last week Trump escalated his attacks against DeSantis, sharing a more than 20-year-old photo alleging the governor drank alcohol with minors when he was a high school teacher.
The photo shows DeSantis smiling between three women with blurred out faces, whose ages aren't clear. One of the females in the photos is holding a brown glass bottle but DeSantis isn't pictured drinking. Still, the caption reads, "Here is Ron DeSantimonious grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher," followed by the vomit emoji.
"That's not Ron, is it? He would never do such a thing!" Trump wrote sarcastically on Truth Social.