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Last year, former President Trump announced his choice to run in the 2024 presidential election. Yet, reactions from the general public remained lackluster, at best. Many Americans opined that Trump's reveal left much to be desired and lacked energy.

Nevertheless, as 2023 progresses, Trump is working on campaigning and getting Republicans to nominate him. Still, a significant possible threat to this is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis has been seen beating Trump in multiple polls over a consistent time period. Furthermore, the Florida governor's popularity within the GOP continues to rise for a multitude of reasons.

This has led to Trump lodging an increasing number of random, unprovoked attacks against DeSantis. Now, the Florida governor is firing back with some choice words on his own.

Above it all?

Trump continues to run with the false narrative that his 2018 endorsement of DeSantis was the sole reason the Florida governor won his election that year.

In actuality, the people of Florida are the ones who got DeSantis elected. Trump likewise neglects to mention that DeSantis won the 2022 Florida governor's race by a significantly wider margin than he did in 2018 when Trump endorsed him.

One of Trump's latest attacks against DeSantis also accuses the Florida governor of being misleading about how he handled COVID during the apex of the pandemic.

On Tuesday, DeSantis noted during a Bradenton press event that he's used to facing attacks from all angles. As such, the governor stressed that ultimately, the people of Florida are the ones who get to "render a judgment" on his performance.

This is when DeSantis noted he was reelected by the greatest margin of any GOP governor in his state. Of course, Trump conveniently neglects to mention this when taking jabs at the Florida governor.

Many conservatives applauded DeSantis' response to Trump, stating the Florida governor addressed the issue without getting too in the weeds.

Desperation?

There are some in the Republican Party who are growing tired of Trump attacking DeSantis.  Trump is now insisting it would be "disloyal" for DeSantis to run in the 2024 presidential election.

Once again, Trump's logic behind this train of thought is a strange one. Trump believes an endorsement he gave in 2018 ought to prelude DeSantis from making individual choices about his own political career.

Because of the former president's conduct, some on the right believe Trump remains secretly fearful of DeSantis.

After all, a recent New Hampshire poll from just days ago shows the former president lagging behind DeSantis. That's despite Trump having already declared his candidacy in the 2024 race, while Americans wait to see if DeSantis will also announce he's running.