Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Ron DeSantis\u2019 popularity problem on Capitol Hill is getting worse.<\/p>\n
The latest in a growing string of anecdotes about DeSantis\u2019 lack of a personal touch during his six years in the House comes via former Rep. David Trott (R-Mich.). He sat next to DeSantis for two years when they both served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.<\/p>\n
The then-Florida lawmaker \u201cnever said a single word to me,\u201d Trott said in an email this week to POLITICO Playbook. \u201cI was new to Congress, and he didn\u2019t introduce himself or even say hello.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s an asshole,\u201d Trott added in a phone interview. \u201cI don\u2019t think he cares about people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former President Donald Trump announced his bid to reclaim the White House last November while DeSantis, widely viewed as the former president\u2019s most formidable challenger for the Republican nomination, has spent months trying to burnish his national image with a book tour and visits to early primary states.<\/p>\n
But even though DeSantis served three terms in Congress, it\u2019s Trump who\u2019s gotten the jump on the Florida governor as GOP lawmakers \u2014 including a parade of them from DeSantis\u2019 state \u2014 have lined up behind Trump in recent days and weeks.<\/p>\n
Trott elaborated on his interactions \u2014 or lack thereof \u2014 with DeSantis during their time in Congress together:<\/p>\n
\u201cI go to my first [House Foreign Affairs Committee] hearing early, and DeSantis showed up right at the gavel time and didn\u2019t say hello or introduce himself,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then the next hearing, the same thing happened. I think the third time it happened, I thought, \u2018Oh, this guy\u2019s not ever going to say hello to me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the governor declined to comment on Trott\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n
Perhaps nowhere has the contrast between Trump and DeSantis been sharper than within Florida\u2019s congressional delegation. While the Florida governor made a much-anticipated trip to Washington this week, Trump collected a wave of endorsements from Sunshine State lawmakers.<\/p>\n
Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), who announced Monday night that he would back Trump for the GOP nomination, said he\u2019s had a tough time connecting with his home-state governor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been multiple opportunities where I’ve talked to him and given him my cellphone number and asked him to reach out to me,\u201d Steube said in a Friday interview on Fox News. \u201cThere\u2019s been events in my district where I was told I could not be part of the press conference, told to go stand in the corner and not allowed to participate in that when he was in my district. You can’t win friends and influence people that way, especially in the political realm.”<\/p>\n
In an interview with Playbook earlier this week, Steube recalled that Trump was the first person to call after the lawmaker suffered significant injuries that landed him in the ICU after in a tree-trimming accident earlier this year. \u201cTo this day, I have not heard from Gov. DeSantis,\u201d Steube said.<\/p>\n
Freshman Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), too, praised Trump\u2019s personal touch in interfacing with the Florida delegation. In an interview with The New York Times, she recalled receiving a personal note from Trump after her father\u2019s death in January, 2022. Another letter came not from Gov. Ron DeSantis, but from his wife, Casey DeSantis.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump\u2019s operation is personal,\u201d Luna, another Trump endorsers, told the Times. \u201cYou take the time to actually get to know the people you\u2019re going to be working with and that does make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trott, for his part, said DeSantis has an \u201cability to size up the electorate and figure out what issues and hot buttons he needs to press to advance his political ambitions.\u201d But Trott also called the governor \u201cjust a very arrogant guy\u201d who is \u201cvery focused on Ron DeSantis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t really liked when he was in Congress. And now it’s coming home to, you know, prove out as some of the Florida delegation endorsed Trump and some of the donors, you know, think he\u2019s kind of awkward in terms of how he interacts with them,\u201d Trott said. \u201cIf his pre-presidential campaign was playing out differently, then I\u2019d say, \u2018Well, maybe he just didn\u2019t like me.\u2019 But I think there\u2019s something more at work here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kierra Frazier contributed to this report.<\/p>\n