Former President Donald Trump continues to target Ron DeSantis, even though the Florida governor has not officially announced a 2024 presidential run.
According to Politico, Trump and his allied PAC are building an "expansive" opposition file on DeSantis - including his time as an assistant U.S. Attorney and congressman.
Trump has already been criticizing DeSantis on the campaign trail, trying out nicknames like "Ron DeSanctimonious," "Ron DeEstablishment," "Ron DisHonest," "Meatball Ron," and "Tiny D."
Now, armed with their opposition file, Trump's team plans to paint DeSantis as an "extremely lenient prosecutor" in cases involving child pornography, among other things, according to Politico. The goal is to show he's a "handpicked establishment favorite, not the heir apparent to the MAGA throne," per the report.
"The team itself has felt like he has had a free ride without scrutiny for a number of years. Just because he's aggressive and willing to fight doesn't make him MAGA. MAGA is the policies and there is a tremendous amount of sunlight between Trump policies and DeSantis policies," Bryan Lanza, who was a part of Trump's 2016 campaign, told the outlet. "The more and more that gets highlighted the more DeSantis is going to get exposed as just another member of the establishment and compared to Jeb Bush."
Claims that DeSantis was a lenient prosecutor are "ludicrous," said Ronald Henry, a retired assistant U.S. Attorney who served as supervisor to DeSantis during his time as special assistant U.S. Attorney.
"To make any allegation that he was soft on any kind of case, especially child pornography, is just ludicrous. It defies the logic of what I saw in the office or what my office would let happen," Henry told Politico. "He wasn't a lone wolf on his own making deals without the entire weight of the U.S. Attorney's office overseeing what he was doing."
Trump's team also plans to go after DeSantis over his support for military involvement overseas and entitlement cuts, as well as his response to COVID-19, per Politico.
As with all of Trump's previous attacks, DeSantis has dismissed this latest report without comment. During a press conference in February, the governor said he had more important things to do than give life to Trump's continued criticisms.
"I spend my time delivering results for the people of Florida and fighting against Joe Biden; that's how I spend my time," DeSantis said, per ABC News. "I don't spend my time trying to smear other Republicans."
Despite the Florida governor not officially throwing his hat in the race to the White House, DeSantis remains neck-and-neck with Trump in most polls -- though the former president seems to have a slight edge. According to polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight, "DeSantis is currently in the best position to challenge the former president for the GOP nomination."
A new CNN poll shows 40% of Republicans would support Trump as the party's presidential candidate, versus 36% for DeSantis. That same poll also indicates that more GOP voters say it's important to nominate a candidate who shares their positions on major issues (59%) over a candidate with a strong chance of beating Biden (41%).
As for Biden, he has indicated intentions to run for reelection but has made no official announcement. An ABC News/Washington Post poll from earlier this year shows only 31% of Democrats want the party to renominate Biden, while 58% would prefer someone else.
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