as Donald Trump addressed a crowd at a summit in Florida.
The former president was there to speak to the Florida Republican Party's Freedom Summit in Kissimmee along with nomination rival Governor Ron DeSantis. The Washington Post reported the vent involving Trump did gain "the largest and most enthusiastic"crowd of the whole weekend as the 45th president stood next to signs that read "Florida is Trump counter," but pictures from the day show there were still empty seats.
One observer on X, formerly known as Twitter, said it looks like matinee showing during the previews. "Florida is NOT Trump country. Don’t let them fool you," Debbie Mathews wrote.
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"We're going to win the Florida primary for the third straight time, and we're going to win the state by a landslide next November," Trump said to the crowd. Videos show the crowd looking packed out near the front of the stage.
The summit sold a range of merchandise including everything from socks to bathtub rubber ducks that paid tribute to the former president. Vendor Peter Crotty also had Ron DeSantis T-shirts. But he reduced those items from their original $25 down to $5, an 80% discount on the Florida governor’s name - the excess inventory needed to go, Crotty said.
It was just one sign of DeSantis' challenges in the 2024 Republican primary fight. Barely two months from the first nominating ballots being cast, Trump is flaunting his advantages by trying to embarrass the governor in the two rivals’ shared home state, where party activists on Saturday cheered any mention of the former president and booed at any criticisms of the GOP 2024 front-runner.
DeSantis' campaign has faltered since the governor announced earlier this year. The two men have an increasingly personal and crude rivalry, and the second-term governor faces the reality that Trump has dominated national Republican politics since he launched his first White House bid in 2015, when DeSantis was a little-known Florida congressman.
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Trump still looks the strong favourite to match up in a re-run of 2020 against Democrat incumbent President Joe Biden next year. Trump said his Florida speech, in a mocking tone, that DeSantis begged for his backing in 2018: “I endorsed him and he became a rocket ship in 24 hours. ... Now he's like a wounded falling bird from the sky.”
Legal woes don't seem to be harming Trump's chances among Republican voters. He is set to testify at his New York civil fraud trial on Monday.
The highly anticipated testimony in the trial of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit follows that of his eldest sons, Trump Organization executives Eric and Donald Trump Jr., who testified last week. His eldest daughter, Ivanka, is set to testify on Wednesday.