Former President Donald Trump decided to go after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), his likely competitor in the 2024 primaries. With midterms right around the corner, his decision didn’t land well among conservatives.

During a rally in Latrobe, Pennsylvania on Saturday, Trump bragged about leading voting intentions for the GOP primaries, according to a national poll.

“We’re winning big, big, big in the Republican Party for the nomination like nobody has ever seen before,” Trump said, before assigning DeSantis a nickname. “There it is, Trump at 71%, Ron DeSanctimonious at 10%.”

Behind-the-scenes tension between DeSantis and Trump had been reported earlier. This is, however, the most direct attack the former president has made against his rival — Trump is known for making up derisive nicknames for his enemies.

DeSantis is well ahead his Democratic challenger, Charlie Crist, and is expected to win this election.

But making divisive remarks with the Election Day so close was a bad move, in the opinion of many conservatives, who criticized Trump’s strategy on social media, with one calling it “absolutely pathetic.”

One day later, rallying in Miami, the former president held back friendly fire comments.

“You’re going to reelect the wonderful, the great friend of mine Marco Rubio to the United States Senate and you are going to reelect Ron DeSantis as your governor,” Trump said on Sunday.

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