Trump Ad Attacks DeSantis' Past National Sales Tax Push

A pro-Trump group has launched an advertisement attacking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' previous support for a national sales tax featuring a ditty to the tune of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" and emphasizing that former President Donald Trump cut taxes while he was in the White House.

The ad, released by the MAGA Inc. PAC, is running on Fox News, CNN, and Newsmax, as well in the Iowa markets of Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, and Sioux City. It is also appearing on WMUR in New Hampshire, reported Politico.

In addition to the farmyard song, which calls the Florida governor "Ron DeSalesTax," the advertisement states that, while he was in the U.S. House of Representatives, he "backed a national sales tax, a 23% tax hike on almost everything you buy from the gas station to the grocery store."

It adds that "90% of families would get a tax hike if DeSantis replaced the current system" and that would make inflation under President Joe Biden "hit even harder."

The ad is an attack on DeSantis' co-sponsorship of Fair Tax bills in 2013, 2015, and 2017 while he was in Congress. The DeSantis campaign Friday, while responding to the ad, called it "dishonest" to describe only part of the plan in the spot.

"In Congress, the governor supported the concept of a Fair Tax, a plan to lower the overall tax burden on an individual by replacing all federal taxes — including income tax — with a lower tax," DeSantis political team press secretary Bryan Griffin told Newsmax. "The plan also sought to end the IRS which, at the time, was being weaponized by the Obama administration."

According to PolitiFact, the legislation would have introduced a 23% federal sales tax, but that would have eliminated the Internal Revenue Service as well as income, estate, payroll, and gift taxes.

Griffin pointed out that in Florida, DeSantis has "cut taxes to help families struggling under Biden's inflation."

"In 2022, he signed the largest tax relief package in Florida history (more than $1.2 billion for Florida's families) and this year he exceeded that by securing a record $2.7 billion in tax relief, including a permanent sales tax exemption for baby items, back to school and 4th of July tax holidays, and $500 million in toll relief," said Griffin.

Florida's favorable tax climate, as a result, "has encouraged a record number of people to move to the Sunshine State, including former President Donald Trump."

DeSantis is expected to officially enter the 2024 presidential race next week, after a trip to New Hampshire this weekend, sources told Newsmax.

The Trump camp's advertisement is being released after DeSantis suggested to donors during a phone call Thursday that he is the only person who could defeat Biden in 2024, telling his supporters that "you have basically three people at this point that are credible in this whole thing," DeSantis, Biden, and Trump.

DeSantis also argued that even though Trump has had good policies, Biden and other victories from Democrats have rolled many of them back. Further, he criticized the former president's electoral record.