Trump Reportedly Roadtesting ‘Meatball Ron’ and ‘Shutdown Ron’ as Potential DeSantis Nicknames

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A new report offered a glimpse at Donald Trump’s process of deciding which insulting nickname he plans to use against Ron DeSantis if the Florida governor competes with him for the 2024 Republican nomination for president.

For months, political observers have speculated that DeSantis could be the most challenging opponent Trump may face in the Republican primary. Thus far, Trump has billed the Florida governor”Ron DeSanctimonious” ever since announcing his 2024 bid. But The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman and Michael Bender report that the ex-president is experimenting with harsher smears against the governor.

“Since November, despite the criticism he faced at the time, Mr. Trump has periodically hit out at his potential rival, albeit to a relatively small audience,” the article states. “He posted his most recent innuendo about the governor on Truth Social, where he has just under five million followers. And he has insulted Mr. DeSantis in casual conversations, describing him as ‘Meatball Ron,’ an apparent dig at his appearance, or ‘Shutdown Ron,’ a reference to restrictions the governor put in place at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.”

The Times report focused on the intrigue surrounding a Trump-DeSantis rivalry, though it also examined the governor’s options for politically withstanding Trump’s mudslinging. DeSantis has largely tried not to engage with Trump’s jabs, though he rebuked Trump last week in response to the ex-president’s insinuation that DeSantis behaved inappropriately with high school girls decades ago.

As DeSantis decides how he will deal with Trump’s attacks going forward, Haberman reported on Twitter that the governor will announce his candidacy in late May or early June, should he choose to run. This potential late entry into the field raises questions about whether he can withstand Trump’s barrage of attacks.

“DeSantis is said to be looking at a late May/early June entrance if he runs,” Haberman tweeted. “It’s not as late as, say, Rick Perry getting in in 2011. But it’s late, and will test whether the antibodies he gets from conservative media serves as a shield that previous hopefuls didn’t have.”