A Trump-DeSantis War of Words

To call the attacks asymmetrical is generous. For example ...

Trump, on Truth Social: “Ron DeSanctimonious will probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known.”

DeSantis, to Piers Morgan: “It’s not important for me to be fighting with people on social media. It’s not accomplishing anything for the people I represent.”

The former president is as subtle as a roller coaster. Things (usually his) are the best. Others (usually his rival’s) are the worst. Taunts, mockery and hyperbolic attacks are his political bread and butter.

DeSantis, even when asked directly, rarely mentions Trump by name. Instead, he makes unsubtle and unflattering allusions — but without making a direct attack.

Just one example:

Trump: “Ron DeSanctimonious is the most overrated politician in America. His Numbers on COVID, Crime, and Education are terrible, but nobody knows it—Now they do. He shouldn’t even be running!”

DeSantis: “Somebody who really set the standard is George Washington, because he always put the republic over his own personal interest.”

One source of tension is the question of who is responsible for DeSantis’s political success. Trump has said his 2018 primary endorsement won that race for DeSantis.

DeSantis, who in that 2018 campaign aired an ad showing his toddler building a Trump-style wall out of toy blocks, is now preparing to challenge Trump for the leadership of the Republican Party.

Trump regularly questions DeSantis’s loyalty. But in his new book, DeSantis says he cares more for results than personal affection.

“I had no desire to be flattered — I just wanted people who worked hard and believed in what we were trying to accomplish,” he writes.

It doesn’t take much to decipher a contrast with Trump, who once demanded of James Comey, the F.B.I. director, “I need loyalty.”