Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used his platform during the California GOP convention to mock the current GOP presidential frontrunner former President Donald Trump.
“I understand that one of my residents was here earlier saying that he turned Florida red,” DeSantis said in his speech on Friday. “I just wish if he was the one that turned Florida red, that he wouldn’t have turned Georgia and Arizona blue."
His remarks came after Trump, who resides in Palm Beach, Fla., spoke at the same event on Friday — crediting himself as being “the one that turned Florida red," not DeSantis.
The Florida governor was referencing the 2020 presidential election, when the two swing states both elected Democratic senators and were turned blue for President Biden. In elections prior, both Arizona and Georgia were won by Republican candidates — including 2016, when the former president won each state by narrow margins.
Trump continues to claim responsibility for DeSantis's success in Florida, saying he was a "lousy candidate" before his endorsement.
“He was so far behind, ’cause, you know why? ‘Cause he was a lousy candidate, and I endorsed him and he became like a rocket ship, and he ended up getting the nomination,” Trump said earlier this year at a campaign stop in Iowa.
"Then I held a few rallies for him ’cause he was not going to beat the man that he was running against, who at the time was said to be the hottest guy in the Democrat Party,” he added, referring to Andrew Gillum, who lost by less than half of a percentage point.
DeSantis's comments in California can now be added to a long list of attacks from each of the GOP rivals from abortion policy to COVID-19 response as Trump holds steady in the lead for the GOP nomination and DeSantis’s numbers continue to fall in the polls.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy were also scheduled to speak at the event.
