Former president Donald Trump escalated his attacks on competitor Ron DeSantis as the Florida governor began his presidential campaign in Iowa following his glitch-laden Twitter announcement.
The 45th president on Wednesday claimed that Mr DeSantis was looking to "change his name".
"Have you heard that 'Rob' DeSanctimonious wants to change his name, again," Mr Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
"He is demanding that people call him DeeeSantis, rather than DaSantis. Actually, I like “Da” better, a nicer flow, so I am happy he is changing it.
"He gets very upset when people, including reporters, don’t pronounce it correctly. Therefore, he shouldn’t mind, DeSanctimonious?"
The Florida governor pronounced his name both as “dee-santus and “duh-santus", but reportedly settled on the latter.
Mr Trump in a subsequent post, wrote: "ELECTION INTERFERENCE!"
The one-time president continued his diatribe against Mr DeSantis by reposting a statement from Republican representative Mike Keyy, accusing the governor of “ingratitude” after Trump endorsed him in 2018.
"There was a time when Ron DeSantis begged for president Trump's support. Our president gave Mr DeSantis that put him in a position to win the Florida governor's race...," the statement read.
Mr Trump persisted.
He then shared a post with a link to an article that called Mr DeSantis a "Trump knockoff". That followed another post linked to an article calling Mr Trump’s support “unmovable".
A third post with a link claimed "Trump showed that he can capably lead America and protect the unborn”.
Mr DeSantis, meanwhile, blitzed through Iowa during his first full day of presidential campaigning, stepping up his verbal swipes at the former president.
The governor accused MrTrump of abandoning “America First” principles on immigration, supporting coronavirus pandemic-related lockdowns and generally having “moved Left”.
Mr DeSantis also laughed off frequent criticism from the former president over his leadership in Florida, particularly on the state’s response to Covid-19. “Hell, his whole family moved to Florida under my governorship,” Mr DeSantis said.
“This is a different guy than 2015, 2016,” Mr DeSantis previously told The Daily Wire, a conservative news website.
