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Ron DeSantis accuses Donald Trump of 'running to the Left'

Ron DeSantis has begun criticising Donald Trump
Ron DeSantis has begun criticising Donald Trump

Ron DeSantis has accused Donald Trump of “running to the Left” in his first direct attack on his Republican rival.

The Florida governor had so far avoided taking aim at the former US president, 76, who has launched a series of scathing attacks on him.

But in a marked departure from his silence, Mr DeSantis, 44, claimed Mr Trump has abandoned Right-wing principles and is unable to win the national vote.

“It seems like he’s running to the Left, and I have always been somebody that’s just been moored in conservative principles,” Mr DeSantis said in an interview with Tennessee radio host Matt Murphy.

“These will be interesting debates to have, but I can tell you, you don’t win nationally by moving to the Left. You win nationally by standing for bold policy. We showed that in Florida. I never watered down anything I did.”

“I don’t know what happened to Donald Trump,” Mr DeSantis said. “This is a different guy today than when he was running in 2015 and 2016, and I think the direction that he’s going with his campaign is the wrong direction.”

Donald trump has launched a series of scathing attacks on Ron DeSantis - Alex Brandon/AP
Donald trump has launched a series of scathing attacks on Ron DeSantis - Alex Brandon/AP

The attack comes days after Mr DeSantis’s car crash campaign launch with Elon Musk on Twitter Spaces, which was marred by technical glitches.

Several hundred thousands listeners had logged on to listen to the Republican hopeful officially make his case for becoming the Republican nominee, but they were met with silence, feedback noise and bizarre music.

The disastrous start led to a feeding frenzy for the Trump campaign, which pumped out video after video mocking the launch.

“Wow! The DeSanctus Twitter launch is a disaster! His whole campaign will be a disaster. Watch!” Mr Trump said in a post on Truth Social after the launch, “Is the DeSantis launch Fatal …Yes!”

Mr Trump also shared several hit videos on his social media platform Truth Social in which he accused Mr DeSantis of betraying him.

Since the rocky launch, Mr DeSantis has been in fightback mode. He claimed his launch was so popular it "broke the internet" and has been doing rounds of media appearances.

In the 24 hours after announcing his bid, Mr DeSantis' campaign raised a record $8.2 million in donations.

In a separate interview, Mr DeSantis said Mr Trump's early Covid policies "destroyed millions of people's lives".

Mr DeSantis is currently trailing Mr Trump by more than 30 points, according to a polling average from FiveThirtyEight on Thursday.