Trump's jokes about DeSantis again land flat as he ups criticism of potential 2024 rival

Donald Trump can't seem to get his base on board with his attack lines on Ron DeSantis – especially in both politicians' home state of Florida.

While Trump has made mocking his opponent's and political rivals a signature of his campaign style, his jokes about DeSantis landed flat with attendees at a local GOP dinner Friday in Lee County.

Usually, when Trump keeps his attacks to Democrats or less popular Republicans, he gets big laughs and claps – but Florida Republicans aren't having it when the butt of the joke is their beloved governor.

'In Florida, I got 1.2 million more votes than your successful governor's campaign,' Trump said during the Lincoln Reagan dinner on Friday. 'You know that. We got 1.2 million.'

Donald Trump's attacks on Ron DeSantis are not landing with Republicans. During a speech at a Lee County GOP event, the former president received scattered chuckles, at best, when mocking the Florida governor

He then employed his voice mocking DeSantis and playing out the governor asking him for help during the 2018 gubernatorial race in the Sunshine State.

'Sir I'd love to have your support, sir. I'd love to have your support. I'm down at about three. I'd love to have your support,'' Trump reenacted before giving his imaginary reply: 'All right, let's think about it.''

He then dropped the performance and said: 'Then there was like, a rocket ship after I gave it.'

'Otherwise, right now, you'd have a lawyer someplace looking for business,' he claimed of DeSantis.

Following Trump's attack on DeSantis, there were a few awkward chuckles in the otherwise still room, which prompted him to add: 'If that.'

DeSantis earned his JD from Harvard Law School in 2005 after receiving hi undergraduate degree from Yale. He served as a JAG officer in the Navy, overlapping a few years with his time as a U.S. Representative for Florida before running for governor.

It was true that DeSantis was down against his 2018 GOP primary opponent Adam Putnam in the polls, but received a boost in 2017 when Trump issued his endorsement of the eventual victor. He went on to defeat Democratic nominee Andrew Gillum by a very slim margin.

DeSantis' 2022 reelection victory was a landslide against Republican-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist. The governor earned the largest margin of victory in a Florida gubernatorial election since 1982 – even flipping Miami-Dade County red after it voted blue since 2022.

DeSantis has steered clear of directly responding to the attacks, but has taken a few veiled swipes at Trump's leadership style

Attendees at DeSantis's victory rally chanted 'two more years' rather than the common 'four more years' to show support for a 2024 presidential run.

DeSantis has remained relatively neutral on the issue of Trump.

The most poignant attack was a veiled swipe, at best, when DeSantis said that 'leaders take the bull by the horns and make the decisions for themselves.'

'They don't subcontract out their leadership to health bureaucrats like Dr. Fauci,' DeSantis said during remarks over the weekend.

He was referencing Trump's employment of Dr. Anthony Fauci to take over the White House response to the coronavirus pandemic, which many Republicans feel was botched from the start.

DeSantis has not yet announced he is running for president, but has taken all of the usual steps toward a bid for the White House, including touring the country and making stops in key primary states like Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada.

Trump has credited DeSantis' rise on the political stage to his endorsement in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race and says any run against him in 2024 would be 'disloyal'

Trump has quickly ramped up his attacks on DeSantis after saying earlier this year during a visit to early primary contest state of South Carolina that it would be 'disloyal' for him to make a bid against the man who helped him win the Florida State House.

Many of the former president's attacks against DeSantis have not earned the usual reaction he is used to getting when he goes after his opponents.

During a rally in Waco, Texas last month, Trump attacked DeSantis at length, but got a noticeably understated reaction from the usually hyped-up MAGA crowd.

Trump's impersonations have always been a big hit at his rallies and are a staple of his campaign speeches.

He said in Waco that DeSantis came to him with 'tears in his eyes' begging for an endorsement, but the lack of reaction was much more notable than any raucous laughter at his mocking of Democrats like Hillary Clinton and one-time DeSantis challenger Andrew Gillum.

On his social media, Trump has called the Florida governor 'DeSanctimonious' and pointed to unsubstantiated claims that he had inappropriate relationships with underage students when he was a teacher in Georgia.