MAGA Squeals After DeSantis Shreds Republicans Who Think Kissing Trump’s ‘Rear End’ Is The Only Political Value: ‘Listless Vessels’

The Make America Great Again PAC sent out an email on Saturday comparing Gov. Ron DeSantis to Hillary Clinton and demanding the Florida governor “apologize” for comments he made in an interview this week.

Republican activist and writer Will Witt sat down with DeSantis for an interview released Friday on Witt’s website The Florida Standard, and asked the 2024 candidate about the relentless attacks on him from Donald Trump and his supporters, many formerly fans of Florida’s actions under his leadership, accusing him of being a “RINO” or a tool of the Republican “establishment.”

“Many of the MAGA people will say that you are controlled by the Bushes and the Cheneys, that you are a RINO, that this is the real reason why you’re running,” said Witt. “What is your response to that?”

“Well, it’s just totally fabricated,” said DeSantis. He went through a list of actions taken by his administration on various issues that would normally be viewed favorably by conservative voters, then added, “And oh, by the way, I mean, I’ve been fighting the Republican establishment my whole career, including as a founding member of the Freedom Caucus.”

Witt asked why Trump supporters would say he is RINO given those facts. “Is there a reasoning behind it? Or do they really think that?”

“I don’t think they think it. I think that we have a strand in our party that views supporting Trump as whether you are a RINO or not,” said DeSantis. “And so you could be the most conservative person since sliced bread. Unless you’re kissing his rear end, they will somehow call you a RINO.”

“So it’s been totally detached from principle and what you actually believe and results,” he said.

DeSantis concluded by arguing that if the only standard of conservatism is that a politician be a “listless vessel” for Trump’s will, the movement can’t last.

“If you’re not rooted in principle, if all we are is listless vessels that’re just supposed to follow, you know, whatever happens to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that’s not going to be a durable movement,” he said.

It was that comment that prompted a wounded email from MAGA PAC demanding DeSantis apologize for his mean tweet words.

Even noted Trump-booster boosters joined MAGA Twitter (again) in raising a stink with the mischaracterization of DeSantis’s comments, and the words “listless vessels” became a trending topic on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday.

In the full interview, DeSantis also says he will do what Trump did not do when it comes to “upending the swamp.”

“He didn’t do it. So we are gonna do it,” said DeSantis.

DeSantis also took a shot at Trump during conservative conference The Gathering in Atlanta on Friday over the ex-president’s dodging of the Republican primary debate next week.

WITT: Biggest thing that I see happening right now online when I’m going on Twitter and talking to people that I don’t see a lot of other conservative personalities talking to you about is, a lot of the arguments that many of the MAGA people will say that you are controlled by the Bushes and the Cheneys, that you are a RINO, that this is the real reason why you’re running. I’d like to kind of put those things to rest once and for all. What is your response to that?

DESANTIS: Well, it’s just totally fabricated. I mean, I have the boldest record of any elected Republican in the country.

I mean, how many Repub– establishment Republicans would send troops to the southern border? How many establishment Republicans would ban transgender surgeries for minors? How many establishment Republicans would eliminate critical race theory from our K through 12 schools? How many establishment Republicans would have been willing to fund transportation for illegal aliens to go to Martha’s Vineyard? How many establishment Republicans would have done the Constitutional Carry for Second Amendment or the Heartbeat Bill? So it just flies in the face of everything that we’ve ever done for our record. And oh, by the way, I mean, I’ve been fighting the Republican establishment my whole career, including as a founding member of the Freedom Caucus.

We showed how it’s done in Florida. We came in, we drained the swamp here in Florida, and the state’s never done better as a result. And we won a victory that no Republican governor candidate has ever achieved in the history of the state of Florida.

WITT: So to the people who make those claims, they make it so much. Why do you think that they say these things? Is there a reasoning behind it? Or do they really think that?

DESANTIS: I don’t think they think it. I think that we have a strand in our party that views supporting Trump as whether you are a RINO or not. And so you could be the most conservative person since sliced bread. Unless you’re kissing his rear end, they will somehow call you a RINO. So it’s been totally detached from principle and what you actually believe and results. And it’s more about, you know, just what faction you happen to do.

So there’ll be people who are huge Trump supporters, like in Congress, who have like incredibly liberal left-wing records that’s really just atrocious. And yet they’re viewed as, by some of these folks, as like, as like really, really good.

Then you have other people, you know, like the Congressman Chip Roy, who’s endorsed me, Congressman Thomas Massie. These guys have records of principle fighting the swamp that are second to none, and yet they will be attacked by some of these people and called RINOs? So it’s just been totally detached from any type of substance. And ultimately, a movement can’t be about the personality of one individual. The movement has got to be about what are you trying to achieve on behalf of the American people, and that’s got to be based in principle.

Because if you’re not rooted in principle, if all we are is listless vessels that’re just supposed to follow, you know, whatever happens to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that’s not going to be a durable movement.

Watch the clip above via The Florida Standard.