Piers Morgan branded ‘ratings-challenged TV host’ by Donald Trump

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Donald Trump has branded Piers Morgan a “ratings-challenged TV host” ahead of his interview with Ron DeSantis.

The former Good Morning Britain host sat down with politician DeSantis, who will likely be Trump’s rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, on his TalkTV and Fox Nation show Piers Morgan Uncensored.

In the interview, which will be broadcast in full on Thursday (23 March), the Florida governor said that he was unfazed by Trump mocking him and nicknaming him “Ron DeSanctimonious”.

“I don’t really know what it means, but I kinda like it,” he told Morgan, calling the jibes “background noise”.

“You can call me whatever you want, just as long as you also call me a winner because that’s what we’ve been able to do in Florida, is put a lot of points on the board and really take this State to the next level.”

Ahead of the interview airing, Trump took aim at DeSantis and Morgan in a post shared on his social media platform Truth Social on Wednesday (22 March) afternoon.

“While I am fighting against Radical Left Lunatics, Persecutors, and unfair Prosecutors who want to destroy us all, Ron DeSanctimonious is not working for the people of Florida as he should be, he is too busy chatting with a Ratings-Challenged TV Host from England, desperately trying to rescue his failing Campaign,” Trump posted.

“But it’s my fault, I put him there!”

Morgan reshared Trump’s post on Twitter, pointing out that he had interviewed the former president many times in the past.

“BREAKING: Another President Trump statement re my DeSantis interview, this time lambasting him for wasting time chatting with a ‘Ratings-Challenged TV host from England,’” he wrote.

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“That’s the same TV host from England who Trump’s been interviewed by over 40 times...”

DeSantis’s comments follow his failure to publicly support Trump amid claims from the former president that he will soon be indicted over hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election.

“I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Panama City, Florida. “I just, I can’t speak to that.”

The Manhattan grand jury investigating Trump’s role in the payments will not meet on Wednesday, thus delaying any decision as to whether Trump will become the first president to be indicted on criminal charges.