‘Why Do You Use That Name?’ Baier Straight Up Asks Trump Why He Calls Opponent ‘DeSanctimonious’

The second half of former President Donald Trump’s interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier aired on Tuesday night and at one point Baier asked Trump to explain his nickname for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R).

While slamming his GOP primary rival over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, Trump concluded, “Other governors did a better job than Ron DeSanctimonious.”

“Why do you use that name?” Baier asked.

“Because I got him elected and I thought it was very disloyal when he said yes, ‘I’d run.’ I got him past two races. I got him past the primary because he was losing by 30 points or more,” Trump replied, referencing his endorsement of DeSantis for Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2018.

“So it’s a loyalty question?” Baier followed up.

“Yeah, it’s loyalty, I’m a big loyalist. You know, some people say some people right here in this room have told me, ‘Sir, don’t worry about loyalty. Loyalty doesn’t mean anything in politics,’” Trump replied, adding:

I said, “To me, it does.” I got the guy elected. He came to see me, let’s say, weeping because he was dead. He was getting out of the race. He was looking for jobs already, probably at law firms or wherever he’s going to look. He was totally dead. He ran a horrible campaign.

He was running against Adam Putnam, the agriculture commissioner, who’s running for that position for eight years. Putnam had $38 million banked. Ron had nothing, zero. Putnam was at 40%, Ron was at 3%. It was like a wipe out. The election was going to be very soon. I said, You’re dead. If George Washington endorsed you, you’re not going to win. He said, “Sir, if you endorse me, I think I could win.”

Trump continued on for a while recounting how he helped DeSantis become governor of Florida, becoming more animated as he raged on.

“So, it makes you mad? Makes you mad?” Baier pressed as Trump ignored the question and continued seething.

“Then three years later, they say to him, then I didn’t deal with it. I didn’t know him that well three years later. But I got him elected. But I did that with other people, too. But you know what? Just out of respect. So I said three years later they asked him, ‘Are you going to run against the president?’ And he said, ‘I have no comment.’ I said, ‘No comment. No comment means he’s going to run.’ I said, ‘This guy’s going to run.’ And he was dead as a doorknob,” Trump said, repeating himself.

Watch the full clip above via Fox News.

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