The battle between two potential Republican candidates for the 2024 presidency continues to heat up and has included some name-calling. Here’s the latest insult ushered into the race.
What Happened: Former president Donald Trump is among the potential front-runners for the GOP nomination in the 2024 presidential election. Trump officially announced his campaign in November 2022.
The likely biggest challenger for Trump will be Florida governor Ron DeSantis, if he chooses to run for president.
Over the years, Trump has been known to insult those who oppose him or speak out against him. The former president has already installed the nickname of Ron "DeSanctus" for the governor. Other nicknames have included Ron DeSanctimonious, Meatball Ron, Shutdown Ron and Rino Globalist.
In a recent post, Trump is now referring to DeSantis as a “wheelchair over the cliff kind of guy.”
The comments come in reference to accusations that DeSantis wants to cut Social Security and Medicare.
“I guess people are finding out that he wanted to CUT SOCIAL SECURITY & RAISE THE MINIMUM AGE TO AT LEAST 70, at least 4 times. LIKEWISE WITH MEDICARE, WANTED BIG CUTS,” Trump posted on his Truth Social account, according to the New York Post.
Trump made the comments in reference to leading in several polls against DeSantis.
“HE IS A WHEELCHAIR OVER THE CLIFF KIND OF GUY, JUST LIKE HIS HERO, failed politician Paul Ryan, the FoxNews ratings destroyer who led Mitt Romney’s Presidential Campaign down the tubes.”
The comments about being a wheelchair-over-the-cliff kind of guy could be in reference to a cartoon of President George W Bush pushing a grandmother in a wheelchair over a cliff, which was drawn in response to Bush’s planned Social Security reform.
Why It’s Important: Polls have remained split on whether DeSantis or Trump has the best odds of winning the GOP nomination. Some studies show that polls that offer three or more candidates have Trump favored, and polls that are strictly Trump vs. DeSantis have leaned towards the governor.
In the 2016 Presidential election, which was won by Trump, the Republican Party had over a dozen initial candidates. Trump resorted to name-calling and criticizing opponents on many occasions before the field shrunk, and he ultimately won the GOP nomination.
A contentious election season between Trump and DeSantis is expected and could see name-calling and focusing on nicknames around several political issues becoming sticking points for voters.
A recent Michigan poll showed that 30% of Republican voters said they had heard of the "Ron DeSanctimonious" nickname, with 68% saying they were not familiar with the term.
Of those who had heard the nickname, 45% said it reflected “more poorly on Trump.” Only 5% said the nickname reflected “more poorly of DeSantis.”
Trump’s name-calling and insults could backfire this time around for the 2024 election, but the wheelchair over the cliff insult could draw attention to the potential consequence of social security and medicare cuts.
Photo: Shutterstock and Gage Skidmore on flickr
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