Billionaire George Soros, the largest donor to the Democratic Party, signaled at an event this week that he fears Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis in a 2024 presidential matchup.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Thursday, Soros hinted that DeSantis was the superior politician in the likely field of 2024 Republican presidential candidates, even though DeSantis has not announced if he is running.
Soros said that he hopes that DeSantis and Trump have a brutal primary fight and that he predicts DeSantis will win and that Trump’s ego will be so wounded by losing in the primaries that he will launch a third-party run to stop DeSantis from winning the presidency.
“My hope for 2024 is that Trump and Governor DeSantis of Florida will slug it out for the Republican nomination,” Soros said. “Trump has turned into a pitiful figure, continually bemoaning his loss in 2020. Big Republican donors are abandoning him in droves.”
“DeSantis is shrewd, ruthless, and ambitious,” Soros continued. “He is likely to be the Republican candidate. This could induce Trump, whose narcissism has turned into a disease, to run as a third-party candidate. That would lead to a Democratic landslide and force the Republican Party to reform itself. But perhaps I am maybe just a little bit biased.”
Special thanks to the "Soros endorses DeSantis" grift is in order, for they have alerted us to the likelihood that Soros will provide financial assistance to a Trump 3rd party run. That is the sole takeaway from Soros' remarks on the 2024 race. pic.twitter.com/1JfZzTvyqW
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) February 17, 2023
DeSantis and Soros have repeatedly battled against each other ever since DeSantis became the governor of Florida in 2018.
Soros’ Open Society network has gave $1.3 million to the activists who sued DeSantis for sending illegal aliens in the state to Martha’s Vineyard late last year. Another Soros-backed group, which is accused of violating federal tax laws, also sued the DeSantis administration for sending the illegal aliens to Martha’s Vineyard.
DeSantis has railed against Soros for district attorneys that Soros has helped prop up over the country.
“Leftist politicians and Soros-backed prosecutors are enabling chaos and undermining the law enforcement profession by letting violent criminals walk free with hardly a slap on the wrist,” DeSantis said while campaigning against Charlie Crist in 2022, a race DeSantis won by more than 19 points. “Unlike my opponent and the Soros-funded prosecutors whose pro-crime ideology has made once-great cities unlivable, I’m not beholden to anyone but the people of Florida.”
“My opponent’s extreme agenda and admiration of Soros-backed policies only fuel my resolve to fight woke tyranny and Keep Florida Free,” DeSantis added.
DeSantis also removed Soros-backed State Attorney Andrew Warren from office for “neglecting his duties as he pledges not to uphold the laws of the state.”
DeSantis also ran ads attacking Soros on Spanish-speaking radio stations that Soros bought in Florida in an attempt to boost Latino support for Democrat candidates.
Despite this, some of Trump’s allies, the biggest of which is former Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, falsely claimed on social media that Soros endorsed DeSantis. This comes after DeSantis campaigned for Lake during her failed bid for governor.
Kari Lake is sharing fake news about Governor Ron DeSantis despite him coming to Arizona and doing a campaign rally for her
Soros did NOT endorse DeSantis – he said dumb things about Trump and Ron and predicted Ron wins the primary pic.twitter.com/bAvFcRVMAJ
— Brendon Leslie (@BrendonLeslie) February 17, 2023
Christina Pushaw, a top aide to DeSantis, responded to the false attacks by writing on Twitter: “Resorting to fabricated propaganda and false smear attacks is the clearest indication that someone does not have any legitimate points of criticism.”
Resorting to fabricated propaganda and false smear attacks is the clearest indication that someone does not have any legitimate points of criticism.
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) February 17, 2023
The latest attacks against the former governor come after Trump baselessly suggested that DeSantis groomed underage girls with alcohol, made false claims about DeSantis’ record in handling the coronavirus pandemic, and claimed that DeSantis “begged” him for an endorsement with “tears coming down from his eyes.”
DeSantis has responded to the attacks by not engaging and saying that false smears come with the territory.
“I face defamatory stuff every single day I’ve been governor, that’s just the nature of it,” DeSantis said earlier this month. “I’d also just say this. I spend my time delivering results for the people of Florida and fighting against Joe Biden.”
“That’s how I spend my time,” DeSantis continued as the audience erupted in cheers. “I don’t spend my time trying to smear other Republicans.”
DeSantis in response to Trump's ridiculous claim that he's a "groomer":
"I spend my time delivering results for the people of Florida and fighting against Joe Biden. That's how I spend my time. I don't spend my time trying to smear other Republicans." pic.twitter.com/j5BFb3qaDh
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) February 8, 2023