Former Republican President Donald Trump is once again sparring with Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, this time reposting a meme of DeSantis "grooming high school girls with alcohol" on his Truth Social platform.
The meme Trump shared depicts a blurred-out DeSantis—his biggest competition for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination—drinking alcohol with high-school-aged girls. DeSantis worked as a history teacher at the posh Darlington School before being accepted into Harvard Law School.
The caption reads, "Here is Ron DeSanctimonious grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher," followed by the vomit emoji.
Trump said:
"That's not Ron, is it? He would never do such a thing!"
You can read Trump's post below.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
The photo Trump shared originated on Hill Reporter, a blog run by a Democratic Super PAC, though the story behind the image is from The New York Times, which reported in November, citing anonymous former students, that DeSantis went to parties with the seniors, attending at least two parties where alcohol was served.
According to the Times, while some students have now questioned DeSantis' behavior—which occurred after graduation—they reported they weren't bothered by it at the time.
As tensions between the two 2024 hopefuls heated up, news of Trump's attack quickly went viral on social media.
And it's quite clear the two will be at each other's throats come 2024.
\u201cBREAKING: Trump is posting pictures of Ron DeSantis and young girls on Truth Social. \n\nThe 2024 battle has begun and it\u2019s a GOP civil war.\u201d— Brian Krassenstein (@Brian Krassenstein) 1675815324
\u201cTrump going heavy on the "DeSantis is a pedophile" stuff today.\u201d— Will Sommer (@Will Sommer) 1675800417
\u201cDonald Trump just accused Ron DeSantis of being a pedophile.\n\nDoes Trump know something about the federal investigation into Matt Gaetz and other Florida Republicans?!?\u201d— Tristan Snell (@Tristan Snell) 1675817166
\u201cdonald trump and Ron DeSantis are going to destroy one another and it\u2019s gonna to be absolutely f*cking glorious to behold.\u201d— Jo \ud83c\udf3b (@Jo \ud83c\udf3b) 1675810892
\u201cDeSantis is terrible but also Trump owned the Miss Teen America pageant and famously barged in on 15-year-olds half-naked in the dressing room, so I wish they'd both leave public life https://t.co/oPOsXfPZoY\u201d— Laura Bassett (@Laura Bassett) 1675813892
\u201cBREAKING: Trump not-so-subtly accuses DeSantis of being a child predator.\n\nAbsolutely beyond the pale. \n\nThis is gutter trash behavior\u2014Republican voters need to send Donald Trump to the ash heap of history once and for all.\u201d— Reaganite \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\u2744\ufe0f\ud83c\udf7e (@Reaganite \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\u2744\ufe0f\ud83c\udf7e) 1675798459
\u201cMaybe it's just me, but "Donald Trump Accuses Ron DeSantis of being a Pedophile" should be a bigger story.\n\nIf he did that on Twitter or at a rally, it would be on the front page of the NYT,\u201d— Dan Pfeiffer (@Dan Pfeiffer) 1675801741
\u201cBREAKING: Donald Trump accused Ron DeSantis of being a pedophile.\n\nThis is just the beginning. It will get much uglier in the next few months.\u201d— Republicans against Trumpism (@Republicans against Trumpism) 1675800324
Trump's attack against DeSantis came just two hours after DeSantis praised an attorney representing Dominion Voting Systems in their lawsuit against MyPillow CEO and Trump ally Mike Lindell.
DeSantis said Libby Locke, a partner at ClareLocke LLP, "is an extraordinaire when it comes to First Amendment defamation" as he introduced her at a roundtable discussion.
DeSantis has not made an official announcement about a 2024 run but Trump has attacked him just the same, raising the ire of conservatives after referring to DeSantis as "Ron DeSanctimonious" during a recent rally.