Reverend Al Sharpton said Friday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that former President Donald Trump should “never be underestimated.”
Host Joe Scarborough said Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “may not be able to handle the big stage.”
“We saw what Trump did to Marco Rubio, to Rand Paul, to Jeb Bush. We saw one-on-one, he just completely destroyed every one of them, right? Lindsey Graham. Every one of them,” Scarborough said. “And it’s kind of like, you know, Ali in 1977, Ali was slowing down, great boxers like Jimmy Young would push him to the edge, but he was still the champ and still figured out how to win fights. Forgive me, I’m not comparing Donald Trump in any way to Muhammad Ali … but I am saying he’s still the champ in the GOP.”
“He’s still the guy that can dominate the stage like nobody else there,” Scarborough continued, before asking whether Trump could actually win the Republican nomination.
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“We should never underestimate someone like Trump,” Sharpton agreed. “Particularly when we’ve seen what he’s done. As you and I were talking, Muhammad Ali, who I got to know pretty well toward the end of his career, he knew how to do just enough to win rounds when he couldn’t necessarily knock somebody out. And he used theatrics. There’s no one better in the Republican political realm that understands theatrics better than Donald Trump. That should not be underestimated.” (RELATED: DeSantis Appears To Respond To Trump’s Attacks Ahead Of Expected Presidential Run Announcement)
Sharpton then added that while DeSantis may be able to throw a punch, the real question is whether he can take a punch.
Trump and DeSantis have been rivaling each other in the polls, with DeSantis holding a lead over the former president in several polls. A December poll from The Wall Street Journal revealed 52% of likely Republican voters said they would support DeSantis while only 38% said they’d support Trump. A separate poll from USA Today found approximately 56% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters favored DeSantis while 33% favored Trump.