Trump and DeSantis jab at each other on campaign trail in 1st dueling appearances as 2024 candidates
June 1, 2023 -GRIMES, Iowa (AP) — Former President Donald Trump kept up a steady drumbeat of criticism of his chief rival Ron DeSantis on Thursday, jumping immediately on remarks by the Florida governor on the campaign trail to try to highlight his own strength as the leading GOP presidential candidate.
Trump, appearing in Iowa as DeSantis campaigned in New Hampshire, made a point of telling about 200 members of a conservative club gathered at a Des Moines-area restaurant that they could ask him questions — an offer that came not long after DeSantis snapped at an Associated Press reporter who asked him why he didn’t take questions from voters at his events.
“A lot of politicians don’t take questions. They give a speech,” Trump said to the audience, many of whom wore red Make America Great Again hats espousing his political movement.
Trump also sought to capitalize off a remark by DeSantis that it felt like it would take two terms in the White House to really roll back the actions of the Biden administration — a veiled reference to Trump, who can only serve one more term.
