New Audio Shows Trump Bragging His Endorsement Got DeSantis Elected: ‘Ron, You’re at 3%, You Can’t Win’

Former President Donald Trump bragged to Maggie Haberman his endorsement of now Florida Governor Ron DeSantis got him nominated, and eventually elected in 2018.

Trump made the statement to the New York Times reporter as he sat with her for her new book Confidence Man. She shared it exclusively with CNN’s Erin Burnett.

In an audio clip played on OutFront Tuesday, Trump said DeSantis, then a House Republican, asked for his endorsement when he was running for governor:

He was at 3%. He was a great defender of mine in the Russian hoax. He was on television. But the people of Florida didn’t associate with him with the word “Governor.” In other words, they saw him constantly defending me on Russia, Russia, Russia.

But, you know, oftentimes you see that, but you don’t say, “Oh, he’s going to be governor. He said, “I’d love your endorsement.” I said, “Ron, you’re at 3%. You can’t win.” He said, “If you endorse me, I can.” And I said, “Well, look, you never know, but it’s not going to be easy, this guy’s been running for eight years.”

DeSantis won the GOP nomination and went on to defeat Democrat Andrew Gillum by 0.4%.

Four years later, DeSantis is leading Democrat Charlie Crist in the polls – and he is believed to be perhaps the one Republican capable of taking Trump on in 2024.

After Burnett played the clip from Trump’s discussion with Haberman, the latter said Trump views DeSantis as a threat to him:

There is no potential candidate in the Republican field who Trump has talked about more to aides than Ron DeSantis. It is a constant, running discussion. And you really caught that, I think, in what he wass saying to me, where he believes he made Ron DeSantis.

Now, Donald Trump believes he makes a lot of people who he doesn’t make. He definitely helped DeSantis in 2018. But one of the things I explore in Confidence Man is how he believes that if he does something for someone, they owe him fealty for life, including the exclusion of their own future ambitions.

Haberman claims in her book that Trump has described DeSantis as “fat, phony and whiny.”

Watch above, via CNN