Former President Donald Trump, 76, told a campaign rally in Waco, Texas that 44-year-old Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came to him in tears in 2018 asking for his endorsement for governor. Trump likes to remind DeSantis, who considers running for president against Trump in 2024, that he’d be nothing without him. DeSantis won re-election by a landslide in 2022 with a margin of 19%. While its true that Trump has 22-years on DeSantis, it’s also true that DeSantis has a Harvard Law degrees and was a member of Congress before settling in as Florida governor. While the media likes to exaggerate Trump’s attacks, DeSantis plays his cards close to the vest, not responding in kind to Trump’s showmanship. Trump likes to keep his audiences entertained but would prefer Trump to focus on Biden or how the Democrat Congress drove the mighty U.S. economy into a ditch.
Trump hasn’t yet gotten the message that GOP voters look for a fresh face in 2024 and don’t want to see him disparaging the possible 2024 party nominee. Spending a good part of his speech ripping 49-year-old Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg for daring to charge him with making hush money payments to his alleged mistress Stormy Daniels in 2016, Trump treated DeSantis with kid gloves by comparison. Calling Bragg a “desperate psychopath,” Trump said it was another Democrat witch-hunt, trying to charge him with violating New York laws. Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland, 70, and his 54-year-old Special Counsel Jack Smith consider charging Trump with various crimes related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and possessing classified docs removed from the White House at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Bragg’s charges seem inconsequential compared to the many charges Trump faces at the Justice Department.
Whether admitted to or not, the more Trump attacks DeSantis, the more publicity the Florida governor gets, while he takes his time considering when best to announce his 2024 presidential run. However much Trump leads in very preliminary polls, they could change in a heartbeat when DeSantis takes the race more seriously. As of now, DeSantis isn’t that well known to randomized potential voters called on cell phones and landlines by pollsters. As the 2024 election gets past Labor Day 2023, DeSantis could be much better known to GOP voters if he decides to run. As for now, Trump remains the front- runner, if for no other reason, DeSantis has not yet declared. Responding to Trump’s unending barbs, DeSantis robs the press of more sensational material to write about. DeSantis looks well coached at the moment not responding to Trump endless personal and political attacks.
Trump portrays DeSantis as a helpless understudy, someone looking for his endorsement to win the Florida statehouse in 2018. DeSantis was 40-year-of-age when he asked for Trump’s endorsement. Trump insists DeSantis would not have won without his endorsement, a matter of pure conjecture. Back in 2018, Trump was already riding high on controversy, having fired FBI Director James Comey May 9, 2017 and canceled May 8, 2018 the 2015 Iran Nuke Deal AKA Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA]. Trump had so much notoriety in the U.S. press that it’s possible his endorsement of DeSantis actually did little for bid for Florida governor. Trump was already being investigated by 78-year-old Special Counsel Robert Mueller, generating fake stories about his alleged ties with Russia. So, when Trump claims DeSantis wanted his endorsement, Trump already suffered from low approval ratings.
DeSantis has many things going for him in 2024, should he decide to run for the GOP nomination. He’s got youth on his side, presenting a bad match-up for 80-year-old President Joe Biden, should he decide to run for a second term. DeSantis, though pushing in Florida for some controversial reforms, doesn’t have Trump’s baggage, making him radioactive in some circles. Many GOP voters are fed up with Trump’s shenanigans, not comfortable with him bash DeSantis on the campaign stump. As the race goes on, Trump doesn’t match up well to Biden, not because Biden’s done a bang up job but because he has too much of his own baggage for new voters not willing to go back to the past. Trump has far too much baggage at this point to endorse anyone, let alone thinking that he’s a shoe-in for the GOP nomination. GOP voters, not Democrats or the press, will pick the 2024 nominee.
Trump’s attacks on DeSantis in Waco did get much traction with most GOP voters looking for a fresh face in 2024. No one doubts that Trump can entertain an audience but many doubt that he can win a national election, requiring crossover Democrats and independents to join the bandwagon. Facing criminal charges in several ongoing probes, Trump has the kind of notoriety that creates death by a thousand cuts. Once DeSantis decides to announce for president, polls will change quickly, with GOP voters realizing that he’s a viable GOP nominee. Too much opposition inside the GOP exists today against Trump, led by 53-year-old former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and a growing list on anti-Trump Republicans. Republican voters like Trump’s policies but they don’t like his past and current baggage, leaving him undesirable to many younger voters on both sides of the aisle.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
