'One of my residents': DeSantis mocks Trump at California GOP convention

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hit back at former President Donald Trump at the California GOP convention, chiding him for having “turned Georgia and Arizona blue.”

“I understand that one of my residents was here earlier saying that he turned Florida red,” Desantis said during his speech late Friday. “I just wish if he was the one that turned Florida red, that he wouldn't have turned Georgia and Arizona blue.”

Trump, who delivered a combative address including a lengthy broadside at DeSantis at the convention earlier Friday, said of his rival for the GOP presidential nomination: “I’m the one that turned Florida red, not him.”

DeSantis has served as Florida governor since 2019 and was reelected in 2022. Georgia and Arizona – typically purple states – both elected Democratic senators during Trump’s tenure and went blue for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. The former president maintains a longtime seasonal residence at a Palm Beach club, Mar-a-Lago.

DeSantis and Trump have sparred over Florida recently, with Trump frequently asserting on the campaign trail that DeSantis would not have won his first gubernatorial election without his endorsement.

Trump notched a recent win after the Florida GOP decided to scrap its requirement for primary ballot candidates to pledge loyalty to the eventual GOP nominee.

In July, Trump said he was “dominating DeSantis” in Florida and told him to “get home,” attacking him for high property and auto insurance rates in the state, which are a result of insurers pulling back due to the high hurricane risk.

DeSantis was initially viewed as one of Trump’s more formidable rivals for the Republican presidential nomination. However, recent polls show Trump still vastly outperforming DeSantis and his other opponents.