Former President Donald Trump reposted memes accusing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) of being a child predator on his Truth Social account on Tuesday, adding fuel to what is expected to be a fiery Republican presidential primary in 2024.
The posts allegedly show DeSantis with a group of high school students and accuse him of “grooming [them] with alcohol as a teacher,” playing into the Republican base’s constant branding of opponents as groomers and pedophiles.
While the far-right has frequently smeared the predominantly left-wing gay and trans community as groomers, Trump appears to be turning the accusation against his fellow Republican.
The photo appears to have been first published by the Hill Reporter in October 2021 and has resurfaced ahead of a potential primary between the firebrand Florida governor and the former president.
Trump reposted the photos on his Truth Social page, first shared by a user called @Magnanimous, adding “That’s not Ron, is it? He would never do such a thing!”
He also shared another post from the same user that linked to the Hill Reporter’s piece, which claimed DeSantis allegedly drank with his underage students while he taught at the private, co-ed Darlington School in Georgia in the early 2000s.
The photo itself has never been proven to be of DeSantis, nor has it been proven that the girls in the photo are underage or students of DeSantis.
Regardless, Trump was keen on fanning the flames of a fringe conspiracy against his potential opponent in the 2024 primary, angering some Twitter users.
“This is gutter trash behavior—Republican voters need to send Donald Trump to the ash heap of history once and for all,” one user said.
“He will lose to Biden at this rate. His campaign is fundamentally unserious and based on his insecurities,” another said.
Meanwhile, DeSantis went on Florida Voice News earlier today to defend Trump and decry the years-old Mueller investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign and its ties to Russia.
