Former President Donald Trump is amplifying a baseless claim against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Reposting a photo from a fan on his social media site, the 45th president sarcastically claimed that the popular governor “would never do such a thing.”
DeSantis is widely seen as the strongest potential challenger to Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries.
While the GOP underperformed last November, DeSantis rode a red wave in Florida to a 19.4-point victory. Trump won the Sunshine State two years ago by a 3.3-point margin.
Last week, Trump, 76, claimed DeSantis cried as he “begged” him for an endorsement.
The Daily Wire‘s Ryan Saavedra continues:
Trump promoted a post that showed a grainy photograph of someone that is alleged to be DeSantis standing next to several women at a party who appear to be roughly the same age.
“Here is Ron DeSanctimonious grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher,” the post claimed.
Trump promoted the post on his social media channel, writing: “That's not Ron, is it? He would never do such a thing!”
The New York Times previously reported that the photo was published by a blog run by a Democrat super PAC and that two former female students said parties that DeSantis attended “took place after” they had graduated.
Trump has chastised Republicans considering White House runs as “very disloyal.” When asked if he would support the GOP nominee if it weren't him, the former president demurred, “It would have to depend on who the nominee was.”
Translation: don't count on it.
Democrats took full advantage the last time the Republican Party split its vote between two presidential candidates, handing Woodrow Wilson the White House with 41.8% of the vote.
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