Donald Trump gleefully shared comments made by former Fox News anchor and Trump nemesis Megyn Kelly dismissing the chances of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in 2024.
The former president shared the comments which were included in Dave Rubin’s podcast after Ms Kelly initially made them on The Rubin Report on 16 October.
Ms Kelly and Mr Rubin discussed a possible faceoff between Mr Trump and Mr DeSantis in the next GOP presidential primary.
Ms Kelly, who clashed with Mr Trump as a moderator during a 2016 GOP primary debate on Fox News, said she thinks the Republican base wouldn’t leave Mr Trump to support anyone else unless the former president picked them personally.
“I agree!” Mr Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social as he shared the clip on Wednesday.
“I just don’t think anybody else could win if Trump runs,” the former Fox host said.
“So you think if they got on a stage, you don’t think that DeSantis is crafty enough?” Mr Rubin wondered.
“No, I don’t even think that a little. I think Trump sucks up all the energy in every room no matter what. And even someone as skilled as a politician and smart policy-wise as DeSantis can’t overcome that. You really think the hardcore Maga is gonna abandon Trump for DeSantis? They’re not,” Ms Kelly said.
“They like DeSantis, but they don’t think it’s his turn,” she added.
“They think Trump was screwed out of his last election, that he was screwed out of his first term by all the craziness and the Russiagate and so on,” Ms Kelly said. “And they think he is entitled, he deserves another shot at it. Like the hardcore Trump faithful is unshakeable.”
“They like DeSantis, but they would never cross Trump for him,” she added. “And they think that DeSantis owes his political career to Trump.”
“Like if forced to choose, they will choose Trump. So DeSantis can’t take him down. It’s like the line in War Games, ‘The only winning move is not to play.’ DeSantis has got to either be crowned by Trump or he shouldn’t run,” Ms Kelly said.
“You won’t win over Trump. I’ll stand by that. You can play it against me if I’m wrong, but I won’t be,” she added.
