Former President Donald Trump celebrated the struggles of his 2024 rival on Tuesday, calling Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' faltering presidential bid "a beautiful thing to watch."
"Ron DeSanctimonious has the Poll numbers of a wounded bird falling from the sky," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "I am up on him by 57 points, and going higher. He has proven to be a terrible and inept candidate who even fought Social Security and MediCare.
"He will SOON be out of money and dropping out of the race for President. After having single handidly [sic] gotten him elected Governor, with no thanks or glory, it has been a beautiful thing to watch. Good luck Ron!"
DeSantis, once seen as the biggest 2024 challenger to Trump in the Republican primaries, has faced a number of setbacks since officially launching his campaign. DeSantis has been unable to dent Trump's sizable lead among GOP voters. And despite big spending, the governor's standings in the polls have continued to slide.
Newsweek reached out to DeSantis' campaign via email for comment.
A poll released by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) on Wednesday showed yet another troubling sign for DeSantis, who placed fifth among New Hampshire voters and dropped 13 points since UNH's last poll in July.
With only 10 percent support, DeSantis fell behind entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy's 13 percent, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's 12 percent and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's 11 percent.
Trump, who remains the frontrunner in the GOP race, was the first-choice candidate for 39 percent of likely GOP voters in the New Hampshire, which will hold the country's second contest after Iowa. DeSantis remains in second place in the Hawkeye State, but holds only 14 percent support compared to Trump's 50.
The poll that Trump highlighted in his Tuesday post appeared to be the progressive Clarity Campaign Labs, which showed Trump with 67 percent support among Republican voters in September. The survey also found Trump with a 4-point lead over President Joe Biden in a general-election matchup, and Biden with a 4-point advantage in a head-to-head with DeSantis.
Trump's latest comments are not the first time he has predicted that DeSantis would soon drop out of the race.
In August, the former president said there was a rumor in political circles that DeSantis would "be dropping out of the presidential race in order to run, in Florida, against Rick Scott for Senate."
DeSantis spokesperson Bryan Griffin denied Trump's speculation, calling it "fake news."
"Clearly, Donald Trump and his army of consultants are panicked about @RonDeSantis' winning debate performance and the strong momentum that has followed," Griffin wrote in response on X, formerly Twitter.
"They know this is a two-man race, and we will carry this on to a win in this presidential primary. Instead of pushing fake news from New Jersey, the Trump campaign should be focused on getting their candidate on the campaign trail in Iowa and on the debate stage before it's too late."
