Trump lawyer tells DeSantis to ‘stay in Florida’ as 2024 rivalry turns nasty

Trump team has shown signs of taking gloves off against Florida governor while largely feigning friendship

Donald Trump’s attorney showed the latests signs of the former president’s desire to begin attacking his presumed 2024 primary rival, Ron DeSantis this weekend during an interview with a right-wing broadcaster.

Alina Habba was speaking on Right Side Broadcasting, a YouTube channel that typically provides live coverage of Mr Trump’s various events, when she flatly insisted that the Florida governor needed to “stay in Florida” and not challenge Mr Trump for the 2024 nomination.

“He needs to stay in Florida,” she warned. “Just stay where you are. You are doing a great job in Florida.”

Of the governor’s assumed nationally-minded ambitions, she added: “Don’t jump the gun. He’s not ready yet.”

Mr DeSantis is widely regarded as the Republican most likely to present a real challenge to Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination, given that all available polling indicates that he is the only nationally-prominent GOPer to even register double-digit levels of support in such a hypothetical matchup.

Those questions of hypothetical matchups are becoming more and more relevant to reality as the midterms approach and eyes turn to the next election cycle and the GOP’s much-anticipated battle to see who will have the opportunity to challenge Joe Biden or whomever is the Democratic nominee should the president decline to run.

At another recent rally appearance, the former president referred to Mr DeSantis as “Ron DeSanctimonious”, a quip that served to ignite speculation that the 2024 primary was unofficially on and enraged the governor’s camp. Allies of the Florida Republican had already sounded off about their discontent towards Donald Trump in interviews with Politico after Mr Trump announced a rally in Miami, Florida, without consulting the governor. Mr DeSantis ended up not attending, though Florida GOP Senator Marco Rubio did.

Mr Trump did offer an olive branch to the governor at that Miami rally on Sunday, however, urging the attendees to vote for Mr DeSantis’s reelection bid.