Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) directly criticized former President Donald Trump on Wednesday night for calling Hezbollah “very smart,” compelling unlikely allies to voice their agreement.
During a campaign rally in Florida on Wednesday, Trump said “you know, Hezbollah is very smart, they’re all very smart.”
Trump has previously claimed that Hamas’ attack would “never have happened” if he was president.
A spokesperson for Trump told the Washington Post that “smart does not equal good” and that his remarks were meant to express “how incompetent Biden and his administration were” by giving the Lebanon-based terrorist group the idea of opening a second front from the north.
While there have been sporadic clashes with Hezbollah in the north, no second front has been opened. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, “Hezbollah has privately warned Israel that it is prepared to open a second front if Israeli forces launch a ground assault in Gaza.”
Trump’s remarks quickly drew backlash, including from DeSantis, who called the comment “absurd.”
“Terrorists have murdered at least 1,200 Israelis and 22 Americans and are holding more hostage, so it is absurd that anyone, much less someone running for President, would choose now to attack our friend and ally, Israel, much less praise Hezbollah terrorists as ‘very smart,’” DeSantis said. “As President, I will stand with Israel and treat terrorists like the scum that they are.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that the number of Americans killed by “Hamas’s heinous attacks” is now confirmed to be at least 25.
DeSantis—who has largely avoided directly criticizing Trump—was praised by many of his critics for his response.
“Wow. I agree with Ron Desantis,” wrote Ron Filipkowski, who described himself in August as “probably the top anti-DeSantis person on Twitter.”
“Even a broken clock is right twice a day,” replied one X user.
“Welp, it happened. Trump made me agree with DeSantis on something,” wrote another user on X.
“Hell must be freezing over,” another user wrote while agreeing with DeSantis’ take.
DeSantis remains Trump’s top opponent overall in the Republican presidential primary race, though the former president maintains a hearty lead of 45 points on average per RealClearPolitics’ average of recent national surveys.
