A super PAC supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis released a television ad attacking former President Donald Trump, accusing him of spending airtime and money attacking the likely Republican presidential candidate.
“Donald Trump is being attacked by a Democrat prosecutor in New York,” the ad's narrator says. “So why is he spending millions attacking the Republican governor of Florida? Trump’s stealing pages from the Biden-Pelosi playbook.”
Mr DeSantis is expected to announce a bid for the White House in 2024, though he has not formally confirmed his candidacy.
The ad focuses in part on Social Security, which Mr DeSantis has previously stated should begin when American workers turn 70, rather than the current age of 65. The Florida governor has since changed his position, arguing the program should not be touched during negotiations, according to The Hill.
A clip of Mr Trump is played in the ad in which he tells the World Economic Forum that entitlements like Medicare and Social Security — important to seniors, who also make up a large portion of the GOP's voter base — would be subject to spending cuts "at some point."
"At the right time, we will take a look at that," he said at the time.
The ad then asks "what happened to Donald Trump?" suggesting he should be spending his time fighting Democrats, and not lashing out at fellow Republicans like Mr DeSantis.
The Super PAC's ad comes appears to be a rebuttal to another Super PAC's ad attacking Mr DeSantis.
The Make America Great Again Inc PAC launched an attack on the Florida governor, accusing him of having "dirty fingers" — a reference to him eating chocolate pudding with his fingers — and accusing him of supporting entitlement cuts.
“Ron DeSantis loves sticking his fingers where they don’t belong,” the ad says, before accusing the governor of supporting cuts to Medicare, Social Security, and for raising the retirement age.
“Tell Ron DeSantis to keep his pudding fingers off his money,” the advertisement says. “And oh, somebody get this man a spoon.”
Mr DeSantis and Mr Trump have been sniping at each other for months ahead of their predicted primary rivalry heading into 2024.
Around the time of Mr Trump's indictment and arraignment, Mr DeSantis said he had no experience "paying hush money to a porn star" when asked of the former president's situation.
Mr Trump was incensed by the comment, and lashed out at the governor on Truth Social, even going so far as to suggest he will face his own sexual misconduct allegations, possibly with a man.
“Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known, when he’s unfairly and illegally attacked by a woman, even classmates that are ‘underage’ (or possibly a man!),” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I’m sure he will want to fight these misfits just like I do!”
