‘Fake News’: Donald Trump Accused of Spreading False Rumor About DeSantis As He Panics About Declining Poll Numbers

Aug. 29 2023, Published 10:31 a.m. ET
Donald Trump was trashed by Ron DeSantis’ team after the ex-president spread a rumor that his rival was set to drop out of the presidential race, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Trump has been attacking DeSantis on his social media platform Truth Social. Earlier this week, he told his followers he heard DeSantis would end his run for the White House and instead take on Rick Scott in a run for senator.

DeSantis' team fired back at Trump's claims.
He wrote, “Rumors are strong in political circles that Ron DeSanctimonious, whose Presidential run is a shambles, and whose poll numbers have absolutely crashed, putting him 3rd and 4th in some states, will be dropping out of the Presidential race in order to run, in Florida, against Rick Scott for Senate. Now that’s an interesting one, isn’t it?”
DeSantis’ press secretary Bryan Griffin fired back at Trump’s assertion.

Trump spread the rumor earlier this week on Truth Social.
“This is fake news. Clearly, Donald Trump and his army of consultants are panicked about @RonDeSantis ' winning debate performance and the strong momentum that has followed,” Griffin said. “They know this is a two-man race, and we will carry this on to a win in this presidential primary. Instead of pushing fake news from New Jersey, the Trump campaign should be focused on getting their candidate on the campaign trail in Iowa and on the debate stage before it’s too late.”

DeSantis' campaign has been struggling to gain momentum in the past couple of weeks.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, a new survey by Emerson College Polling, following the GOP debates, revealed Trump has lost a significant amount of support.
Never miss a story — sign up for the RadarOnline.com newsletter to get your daily dose of dope. Daily. Breaking. Celebrity news. All free.
Trump, who skipped the debates, saw his lead fall from 56 percent to 50 percent of the vote.
Emerson said the percentage was “the lowest support to date for the former President in Emerson national polls.”


A new poll showed Trump's support declining following the GOP debates — which he skipped.
All the candidates who appeared at the debates saw an impressive jump in their numbers.
The survey showed that Ron DeSantis went from 10 percent to 12 percent while Mike Pence moved up from 3 percent to 7 percent. Other notable winners in the poll were Nikki Haley who jumped from 2 percent to 7 percent and Chris Christie who jumped from 2 percent to 5 percent.