DeSantis Draws Outrage From Trump Campaign Over ‘Listless Vessels’ Comment

Presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took aim at rival former President Donald Trump’s supporters on Aug. 19, calling them “listless vessels.”

Florida Gov. and U.S. presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks in New Hampshire on Aug. 19 2023 Alice Giordano/The Epoch Times

MANCHESTER, N.H.—Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis drew broad outrage over the weekend following his comments suggesting some Trump supporters are “listless vessels” in an Aug. 19 interview with a conservative Florida publication.

While the 2024 campaign for the Republican presidential candidate has since claimed the comment referred to “some congressional endorsers,” the comment has been widely interpreted by the Trump campaign and supporters as referring to all his supporters, drawing comparisons to former Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton calling Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables” in 2016.