Trump snipes at DeSantis vote count — 'Just asking?'

Fresh off a midterm election cycle widely seen as anemic for both the Republican party at large, and his personal brand in particular, former President Donald Trump renewed his attacks on presumptive 2024 presidential rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), wasting little time to reassert himself as the center of gravity within the GOP on his Truth Social platform.

"Now that the Election in Florida is over, and everything went quite well, shouldn't it be said that in 2020, I got 1.1 Million more votes in Florida than Ron D got this year, 5.7 Million to 4.6 Million?" Trump posted. "Just asking?"

Trump's message comes just days after the former president dubbed DeSantis "Ron DeSanctimonious" at a Pennsylvania rally in support of Dr. Mehmet Oz. While neither DeSantis nor Trump have officially declared their candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, Trump has increasingly targeted his onetime endorsee, telling reporters on Tuesday that "If he did run, I will tell you things about him that won't be very flattering. I know more about him than anybody other than perhaps his wife, who is really running his campaign." According to Fox News contributor and New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz, the former president's decision to attack DeSantis in the midst of the latter's gubernatorial campaign has played poorly with Florida voters.

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Trump seemingly acknowledged those frustrations — as well as DeSantis' clear election victory — in his message, prefacing the vote share comparison by pointing out that "the Election in Florida is over, and everything went quite well."

At this time DeSantis has not responded to Trump's attack.