Trump has said he will be making a “very big announcement,” widely believed to be news of his third presidential campaign, at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night. Earlier in the day, the former president wrote that he hoped Tuesday would “turn out to be one of the most important days in the history of our Country” in a Truth Social post.
The likely campaign launch comes after the GOP, including a number of high-profile Trump-endorsed candidates, fared worse than expected in the midterm elections. Support for a potential DeSantis presidential bid has also been increasing among Republicans as support for Trump fades.
A video tweeted by @ScooterCasterNY and credited to “Kevin RC Wilson” of @FreedomNTV hours before the announcement shows a group of people dressed in pro-Trump clothing outside Trump Tower while carrying Trump signs, flags and chanting “USA! USA!”
Two men in the group are then shown stomping on top of a flag featuring an image of DeSantis, before one of the men suggested that they would be “taking out” the governor if he dares to challenge the former president.
“Ron has gotten too big for his britches,” one of the men says as they both stomped on the flag. “Let him stay in Florida for a while.”
“Trump or death!” the other man adds. “Boom! We’re taking him out!”
In addition to the DeSantis image, the flag in the video also featured a URL that points to a website selling pro-Trump merchandise, raising the possibility that the flag-stomping stunt might have been intended to promote website sales.
A number of prominent Republicans have recently urged Trump to delay any future presidential ambitions and that they would refuse to support the former president in 2024.
Support for DeSantis has swelled following his resounding reelection victory in Florida, one of the few parts of the country where Republicans did better than expected.
DeSantis has not announced a presidential run despite widespread speculation. Last week, Trump lashed out at the governor for displaying a lack of “loyalty and class” by not clearly stating his intentions.
“Ron DeSanctimonious is playing games!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The Fake News asks him if he’s going to run if President Trump runs, and he says, ‘I’m only focused on the Governor’s race, I’m not looking into the future.’ Well, in terms of loyalty and class, that’s really not the right answer …”
A polling memo released by the conservative Club for Growth on Monday shows Trump losing to DeSantis by double digits in hypothetical GOP primary matchups in Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida and Georgia. An additional post-midterms poll released by YouGov America finds DeSantis leading Trump nationally.
Newsweek has reached out to the office of DeSantis for comment.
