Trump denies calling DeSantis ‘Meatball Ron’ in 1am post

Former President Trump ripped into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis early Saturday, blasting him for his response to the coronavirus and his friendships with establishment GOP politicians while denying that he ever called him “Meatball Ron.”

Trump opened by referencing a New York Times report that he had taken to referring to the pol with Italian roots by the derisive nickname.

“I will never call Ron DeSanctimonious ‘Meatball’ Ron, as the Fake News is insisting I will,” Trump said at 1 a.m. on his social media platform Truth Social.

“Even though FoxNews killing lightweight Paul Ryan is revered by him, Low Energy Jeb Bush is his hero and always at his side, his beaches and State were closed for long periods of time, his testing, testing, testing for the China Virus didn’t work out too well, and his loyalty skills are really weak, it would be totally inappropriate to use the word ‘meatball’ as a moniker for Ron!”

It was the second time this week Trump knocked back the Times report, but his previous post did not repeat the moniker some observers say is a slur against Italians.

The post suggests Trump, 76, is ramping up his shadow campaign with DeSantis for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination — and also that Trump’s own propensity for social media trash talking at all hours of the day and night remains undiminished by his advancing age, though so far he has stuck to Truth and not returned to larger platforms like Twitter and Facebook that have reinstated him two years after he was booted off following the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

So far only Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley have declared their candidacies. DeSantis is widely expected to jump into the race and has become a favorite of those looking for an alternative to Trump.

Though Trump has now taken repeated shots at the Florida governor — a former protégé — DeSantis has assiduously refused to take the bait. When asked about the barbs earlier this month, he bristled before finally answering, “I don’t spend my time trying to smear other Republicans.”