Congressional backers of Donald Trump are "listless vessels" who have abandoned their principles to support the former president, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told The Florida Standard in an interview Friday.
"A movement can't be about the personality of one individual," DeSantis said, adding it "has got to be about what are you trying to achieve on behalf of the American people and that's got to be based in principle, because if you're not rooted in principle, if all we are is listless vessels that's just supposed to follow ... whatever happens to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that's not going to be a durable movement."
The criticism comes as DeSantis, once touted as Trump's protege, continues to poll far behind him among Republicans and has recently fallen below fellow opponents Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy for the GOP presidential nomination, the New York Post reported.
In the Florida Standard interview, DeSantis also lashed out at "a stream in our party that views supporting Trump as whether you are a RINO [Republican in name only] or not. And so you could be the most conservative person since sliced bread; unless you're kissing his rear end, they will somehow call you a RINO."
The Florida governor continued: "There'll be people who are huge Trump supporters, like in Congress, who have like incredibly liberal, left-wing records that [are] really just atrocious and ... then you have other people like [Texas] Congressman Chip Roy, who's endorsed me [Kentucky] Congressman Thomas Massie; these guys have records of principle."
DeSantis also said: "Donald Trump said he was going to drain the swamp, but yet he kept [FBI Director] Christopher Wray until the end of his term. You know, he didn't fire [former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony] Fauci," he said, pledging to oust Wray on "day one" of his presidency, if elected.
Trump supporters quickly reacted to the comments by DeSantis. MAGA War Room, managed by Make America Great Again Inc., posted the following statement from spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt on X, formerly known as Twitter: "To Hillary Clinton, Trump supporters are 'deplorables.' To Ron DeSantis, they are 'listless vessels.' The truth is, Trump supporters are patriots.
"Ron DeSantis is showing his true colors. The pressure of polling in third place is getting to DeSantis and now he is lashing out at the very same voters who got him elected governor. DeSantis must immediately apologize for his disgraceful insult."
DeSantis spokesman Bryan Griffin responded to the criticism by saying that the Florida governor's comments were misinterpreted.
Griffin posted on X: "The dishonest media refuses to report the facts — Donald Trump and some congressional endorsers are 'listless vessels.' Why? Because Trump and DC insiders feel he is entitled to your vote. @RonDeSantis believes your trust should be earned and has the vision, plan, and record to beat Joe Biden and reverse the decline of our country.
"That's why Ron DeSantis will be showing up on Wednesday night to debate, and Donald Trump will not."