Rumors are spreading on social media that radical left-wing activist George Soros endorsed Ron DeSantis this week.
Spoiler alert: it’s false.
It’s not exactly clear where the claim originated, but several pro-Trump voices on the right have been calling attention to this claim. Even Kari Lake retweeted an article from The Gateway Pundit about it, claiming that Ron DeSantis “just received the kiss of death” because George Soros endorsed him.
The Kiss of Death – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Endorsed by George Soros (VIDEO) https://t.co/9dbJ1YOM5w
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) February 17, 2023
“This could not be worse for DeSantis,” the article bizarrely claims. “When the devil likes you, you might be doing something wrong.”
But does George Soros actually like DeSantis? Not even close. The claim is based on Soros’s prediction at the 2023 Munich Security Conference that DeSantis will beat Donald Trump for the GOP nomination and that Trump will run as a third-party candidate as a result.
“My hope for 2024 is that Trump and Governor DeSantis of Florida will slug it out for the Republican nomination. Trump has turned into a pitiful figure, continually mourning his loss in 2020,” Sorors said. “Big Republican donors are abandoning him in droves. DeSantis is shrewd, ruthless, and ambitious. He is likely to be a Republican candidate.”
Soros continued, “This could induce Trump, whose narcissism has turned into a disease, to run as a third-party candidate. This would lead to a Democratic landslide and force the Republican Party to reform itself.”
#factcheck George Soros did NOT endorse DeSantis.
pic.twitter.com/r7BRAijRNI— Matt Margolis (@mattmargolis) February 17, 2023
The article does not cite a single statement from Soros that can be remotely construed as an endorsement. Why? Because there weren’t any. In fact, he more clearly is hoping DeSantis runs because he believes that he will force Trump to run as a third-party candidate and doom the Republicans in 2024.
Some point to Soros complimenting DeSantis’s political ambitiousness as an endorsement—but it’s no more an endorsement of DeSantis than me saying in 2008 that Barack Obama was inspirational to many Democrats.
Our Survey Says…
It’s false. George Soros did not endorse DeSantis—it’s a rumor being spread by some Trump supporters hoping to thwart DeSantis’s potential 2024 candidacy.
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