Donald Trump on Wednesday wriggled out of a town hall question that noted his penchant for insulting people who once worked for him. (Watch the video below.)
A Ron DeSantis supporter named Jane buttered up the former president before confronting him on his putdowns at the Fox News gathering in Iowa ahead of Monday’s caucuses there.
“Mr. President, I am extremely grateful that in your first term, you accomplished great things,” she said. “But it was also with the help of many great people. Since that time, you have publicly criticized and personally demeaned so many of them. If you’re given four more years, how will you convince good people to take the risk of working with you?”
Trump danced around her reproach and, yep, resorted to name-calling.
“So, I have a lot of people that want to work with me,” he said, adding that he heard from important people in the military before the town hall.
“Everybody wants to come to work with us. We’re gonna have no trouble. We had great people. We had a couple that were not great. Stiffs, as I would call them. But that’s true with anybody. But now I’ve gotten to know Washington. I’ve gotten to know the people. I know the best. I know the smart ones, the dumb ones, the weak ones, the strong ones.”
Trump then got in a few digs at Florida Gov. DeSantis, who is running far behind him in the race for the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination.
“He would be working in a pizza shop or perhaps a law firm if I didn’t endorse him,” Trump said. “You know, I endorsed him, took him from nothing to winning an election. And I was all for him. And then one day he said he’d run against me four years later after I got him in. And I said, ‘That’s not a loyal person. We can’t have that.’”
DeSantis was debating another candidate, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, on CNN while Trump held court on the conservative channel.
Haley was U.N. ambassador during Trump’s White House tenure and he now calls her “birdbrain.” She’s part of a long list of those who have received brickbats from him after serving in his administration.
A sampling:
Ex-Attorney General Bill Barr: “Pathetic.”
Ex-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper: “Incompetent.”
Former FBI Director James Comey: “Slimeball.”
Ex-Attorney General Jeff Sessions: “Weak.”
Former White House Chief Of Staff John Kelly: “Dumbest.”
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton: “Sick puppy.”
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