Former President Donald Trump is spreading a false rumor that claims Democratic mega-donor George Soros, who frequently features in right-wing conspiracy theories, has "endorsed" Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president.
In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump linked to an article from far-right misinformation site The Gateway Pundit, featuring the headline "The Kiss of Death—Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Endorsed by George Soros."
The former president pushed the endorsement claim after months of launching increasingly vitriolic attacks on his potential 2024 challenger, whom he now often refers to as "Ron DeSantimonius."
The claim and the article shared by Trump are based on a video clip of the 92-year-old billionaire weighing in on the 2024 election during a recent speech at the Munich Security Conference.
The clip—which rumbled MAGA world while making the rounds on social media last week—does not show Soros expressing his support for DeSantis, who has yet to officially announce his candidacy despite widespread speculation that he will enter the race.
Instead, Soros said that he hoped DeSantis would defeat Trump in the Republican primary and prompt the "pitiful" former president to be overcome by his "narcissism" and launch a run as an independent instead.
Although Soros did call DeSantis "shrewd, ruthless and ambitious," his comments clearly did not amount to an endorsement. Soros suggested that DeSantis and a newly independent Trump would split the conservative vote...
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