WATCH: Trump Floats Rebekah Jones-Style Attack on DeSantis’s Covid Record, Claims ‘The Numbers Weren’t What They Pretended to Be’

Former President Donald Trump attacked Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a recent appearance on the Full Send Podcast, even going so far as to hint at a conspiracy reminiscent of the of the one alleged by faux-whistleblower Rebekah Jones.

After being asked why he was a better choice for GOP presidential primary than DeSantis, Trump went on to launch an attack on DeSantis’s handling of Covid in the Sunshine State, which initially vaulted the governor to national prominence:

Well actually if you look at the numbers, he didn’t do a great job. If you take a look at the numbers he’s very high on crime. Very high, right at the top. Almost at the top. I think he gets good publicity, although now people are starting cause I’m putting out the Covid numbers, he didn’t do well on Covid. He had more deaths than almost every country in Florida. I hate to say it cause Florida’s my state, but he did not do well.

It’s really, it’s very interesting, I don’t wanna knock anybody, but the thing he did well on was public relations, because the numbers weren’t what they pretended to be.

Trump’s assertion that DeSantis had misrepresented the Covid death data in the state mirrors the false allegations leveled at him by Jones, who was fired by the Florida Department of Health for insubordination and other alleged crimes committed while managing the state’s Covid dashboard. She accused state authorities of understating the number of deaths attributable to the virus’s spread.

Jones was championed by a number of left-leaning outlets until her claims were dismantled by National Review‘s Charles C.W. Cooke.

Florida did register the third-highest number of Covid deaths in the country, but that figure mirrors its population. The two states with larger populations, California and Texas, are the two states with higher death tallies. Under the more fair measure of performance of death rate per capita, Florida had just the 18th highest figure despite having one of the oldest, most vulnerable populations in the U.S..

DeSantis has been praised for his handling of the crisis by many conservatives for his aversion to heavy-handed restrictions as well as his success in keeping schools open and helping lead Florida toward a quick economic recovery from the initial wave of lockdowns.

Trump’s latest broadside is yet another indication that he will make attacking DeSantis from the left — on entitlements, abortion, and now Covid — a key part of his campaign strategy.

Watch above via Full Send Podcast.