Trump bristles as popular conservative group grows closer to DeSantis: report
Turning Point USA, a group founded to energize young conservatives which later became a right-wing political powerhouse, has apparently invited the ire of Donald Trump due to its support for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, NBC News reports.
A source close to Trump speaking to NBC News said Trump is "watching" Turning Point and its founder, Charlie Kirk, after it hosted rallies across the country last summer featuring DeSantis.
"More recently, Trump noticed Kirk starting to ally himself with DeSantis in his effort to shake up the Republican National Committee, according to the adviser, who was not authorized to speak publicly. Kirk was vocal in wanting to oust the incumbent chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, who was originally handpicked by Trump for the job," NBC News' report stated.
"DeSantis, on the other hand, publicly praised her challenger Harmeet Dhillon — who was boosted heavily by Kirk — in comments that made waves at the RNC’s winter meeting last month. And he made those remarks in an interview with Kirk."
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The source says Trump feels like he's responsible for Kirk's fame and Kirk is being disloyal.
“Trump feels like he has made Charlie and Charlie’s ungrateful and [Trump’s] not been happy for a while,” the source said. “He’s like, ‘You call him and you tell him he’d be nothing without my son.’”
“I see that [Kirk’s] trying to cover all his bases,” the source continued. “Trying to triangulate between Trump and DeSantis. And Ron may not care, but Trump notices.”
But Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., denied there's any disharmony in the relationship between Kirk and Trump.
“Few people in politics have been a stronger or more loyal ally to both my father and our entire family than Charlie,” Trump Jr. said. “I know my father appreciates Charlie’s early endorsement and all of us value his friendship. No amount of BS quotes from anonymous sources, who have no clue what they’re talking about, will ever change any of that.”
Read the full report over at NBC News.