Trump gives advice to DeSantis: ‘Never change your name in the middle of a campaign’

Former President Trump took a jab at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Saturday for attempting to “change” his name, amid his campaign for the Republican nomination. 

DeSantis has faced questions about the correct pronunciation of his last name, as he has switched back and forth between two different versions in recent weeks: Dee-Santis and Deh-Santis.

“He’s changing his name. Now, it’s Dee-Santis,” Trump said at the North Carolina Republican Party Convention on Saturday. “And I put a little message out: Never change your name in the middle of a campaign. You don’t change your name in the middle of a campaign.”

Trump has previously mocked the Florida governor’s changing pronunciations of his own name, noting on Truth Social, “Actually, I like ‘Da’ better, a nicer flow, so I am happy he is changing it.”

“He gets very upset when people, including reporters, don’t pronounce it correctly,” the former president added, adding his favorite nickname for the Florida governor. “Therefore, he shouldn’t mind, DeSanctimonious?”

The Florida governor has brushed off the nickname for the most part, saying earlier this year that “I kinda like it.”

“I don’t know how to spell the sanctimonious one. I don’t really know what it means, but I kinda like it, it’s long, it’s got a lot of vowels,” DeSantis told television host Piers Morgan in an interview in March. “We’ll go with that, that’s fine.” 

Still, DeSantis has largely evaded questions about how to correctly pronounce his name.

“This is ridiculous,” DeSantis told Fox News last week. “These stupid things. Listen, the way to pronounce my last name? Winner.”