This is something to sit up and take a look at. Earlier today we posted a piece about Ron DeSantis predicting that Trump could not win, and moreover that he would sell out conservatives if he did win, by some miracle. I can tell you with certainty that nobody cares what DeSantis thinks about Trump’s odds of winning — at least if the number of people who read the article are any indication. Let me put it this way, if this DeSantis piece was the norm around here in terms of getting eyeballs, we would be out of business jimmy pronto. Nobody cares what DeSantis said today.
But the story is developing, believe it or not. Not only does DeSantis believe that Trump cannot possibly beat Joe Biden, but he knows the reason why, Are you ready? It’s because he has amassed anti-Trump and anti-MAGA troops that are pro-DeSantis. And if/when DeSantis doesn’t win the primary (which, let’s face it folks, the odds of DeSantis winning the lottery are starting to look better) the DeSantis voters will not vote for Trump — or a “significant number” of them won’t. This is some schism in the GOP which DeSantis claims to have wrought. Or, at least one of his allies claims it.
The person whose opinion you read here, Scott Morefield, is a right-wing journalist, Daily Caller alumnus. Can he be right?
My ex in Florida voted for TRUMP TWICE . We have remained friends since divorce in 1990’s
We fought nicely over Trump . Last week he said if Trump wins the nomination he WILL NOT VOTE— Tame Hunter-Beasley (@tameHntr) December 22, 2023
Interesting. Does DeSantis have this kind of clout?
I’ll tell you my take: I think that when Trump is actually the nominee that DeSantis will fall right in and bend the knee to him. If not right then, then at some point. Again, we’ve seen this show before, and Ted Cruz was playing the role of the second fiddle candidate who lost to Trump. Yes, Cruz wouldn’t endorse him and it got to be ugly at the GOP convention. The word shitshow doesn’t even begin to describe what happened those three summer days. Entire delegations stormed off the floor, Cruz was booed and hissed.
But then what happened? A certain Texas senator forgot that Trump ever called his wife ugly or blamed his father for JFK’s death and ended up phone banking for the GOP nominee. Remember that?
And there are two ways to look at this: 1. DeSantis would be a traitor to the GOP if he would have a number of his supporters refuse to support Trump, because the rule is that you forgot your personal differences after the primary and support the nominee or, 2. DeSantis could be seen as a hero, who stands his ground against the menace that Trump poses.
Wow. The last thing in the world that I was expecting was for DeSantis to attempt to subvert Trump once Trump beat him in the primary. But we may in fact be seeing that happen — if what this guy Morefield says is right.
I personally don’t think he’s right. I personally think that Ron DeSantis has run the most botched up campaign in the history of presidential politics and is living in a complete dreamworld that he is actually DeFuture of the Republican party. That mad notion occurred to him right after he won reelection as Governor of Florida and everybody was telling him that his next job was at the White House. That’s where the fantasy fully took root.
Since those days, when Ron and Casey were flying around in private jets and burning through money at an epic rate, a lot has happened and DeSantis has dropped in the polls as people across the country have gotten to know him. What is Trump’s image for it? “Falling from the sky like a wounded bird.” Or a bird that got hit by a windmill and immediately contracted cancer, something along those lines.
But here’s the bottom line: If DeSantis does become a subversive force to Trump’s reelection, how sweet those Democratic ads will be. Oh, Mama. I can see them now and they are hot.
Keep an eye on this story. This could make 2024 an even crazier year than it’s already shaping up to be. What has just now occurred to me is that DeSantis and Trump may have one thing in common, at base: neither one of them can stand to lose or admit defeat. DeSantis served three terms in Congress, then retired early to run for Governor. He was reelected as governor. So he’s never lost an election. Until now, when he loses the primary.
And Trump won one election and lost one and then lied about the one he lost. So he can’t admit defeat. Two men that can’t admit defeat. Two political neophytes with wildly exaggerated versions of their value and worth. This looks like one of those irresistible force meeting the immovable object scenarios. And you know what happens then? Something’s got to give.
The headline made me think of a great South Park episode and this moment:
Oddly (or ironically) enough the episode was about CT – 9/11 being according to Carman (and so many crazies) a “government conspiracy!”
I don’t see DeSantis having that kind of clout. There’s no evidence of it, outside his tiny, insular circle.
At this point, the blind fighting the blind. Ultimately, it may come down to, a blind one defeating a blinded one. One hopes that this is not a blinkered perspective.