At the event, DeSantis' super political action committee then began selling a set of golf balls with the inscription, “Ron DeSantis has a pair.”T-shirts. But he reduced those items from their original $25 down to $5, an 80% discount on the Florida governor’s name. The excess inventory needed to go, Crotty said.
It was a show of strength for Trump in a state where DeSantis has controlled state politics since garnering Trump's endorsement in 2018 on his way to winning the first of two gubernatorial elections.
DeSantis sidestepped the former president altogether while on stage Saturday afternoon, instead sticking with his argument that his results in Tallahassee prove his conservative mettle. “Weakening DeSantis’ standing in Florida is a clear objective of the Trump campaign,” said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist who worked on the 2016 presidential campaign of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. “His entire message is built on the idea that he is a terrific governor. When Republican officials in Florida are choosing Trump over DeSantis, it really weakens the core of DeSantis’ pitch.”
“Go back to New Jersey!” some activists yelled at Christie. Unbowed, he chided his fellow Republicans: “Your anger against the truth is reprehensible.”“This happens in these things,” he told reporters, flanked by top legislative leaders, Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez and several sheriffs. “We've had flips the other way in other states. It's a dynamic thing. Politicians do what they're going to do.
DeSantis' super political action committee then began selling a set of golf balls with the inscription, “Ron DeSantis has a pair.” Responded Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung: “Ron DeSantis is so broke he needs to sell his balls to strangers in order make rent and keep the lights on.”