There was a time during the months of January and even February when it seemed like Ron DeSantis was rising like a rocket ship in the yet-to-announce Republican primary, and there wasn’t anything Donald Trump could do about it.
That dynamic, at last since just before the Trump indictment in Manhattan and certainly afterward, seems to have shifted back in Trump’s favor.
With relentless attacks, and some of DeSantis’ own missteps at home, Trump seems to be reshaping the field in his favor.
As Axios reports, DeSantis’ recent trip to DC was overshadowed by a group of Florida Congressman endorsing Donald Trump:
Former President Trump is pushing his fight deep into Gov. Ron Desantis’ backyard in Florida, picking a fight over Disney and picking off Sunshine State lawmakers, one by one.
Why it matters: Trump sees DeSantis as his only threat for the nomination — and has told aides he will pound him relentlessly with name-calling and policy attacks.
DeSantis earned his first congressional endorsement from a member of the Florida delegation today — Rep. Laurel Lee — hours before meeting with three dozen members of Congress on Capitol Hill.
That was quickly overshadowed by news that Reps. John Rutherford and Brian Mast would become the sixth and seventh House Republicans from Florida to endorse Trump.
Josh Kraushaar tweeted: “No surprise that DeSantis wasn’t going to get [Floridian U.S. Reps.] Matt Gaetz or Anna Paulina Luna. But to lose Greg Steube, Brian Mast and Byron Donalds — the type of FL Republicans you’d expect to be on the DeSantis bandwagon — is a leading indicator something not right with the [DeSantis] outreach.”
DeSantis, as a sitting governor, is at a natural disadvantage to Trump. Not only is he running a shadow presidential campaign but he’s also in charge of governing one of the largest states in the country.
The Trump campaign is wasting no time and sparing no punch when it comes to hitting DeSantis from every possible angle of attack. Whether it’s policy, such as endless television ads accusing DeSantis of wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare, to weirder attacks like the “eating pudding with his fingers” ad that popped up days ago.
There’s no letting up right now from the Trump side:
Gov. Ron DeSantis is increasingly on the ropes against former President Donald Trump, who is claiming congressional endorsements and polling victories as his campaign tries to stop Mr. DeSantis from officially entering the presidential race.
Those close to Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign say his team is moving aggressively to diminish the popular Florida governor and crush his undeclared candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.
“They want to keep a foot on his throat,” a Republican Party strategist with close ties to the Trump campaign told The Washington Times. “They want to freeze DeSantis out of the race.”
That’s all fine and good, politics is a contact sport, and entering this ring one should expect to be bloodied.
However, the other point of view is that Trump is showing his cards too early and possibly helping to elevate DeSantis as a serious threat merely by the amount of time and money being spent to knock him down. After all, the Florida governor hasn’t even formally announced a presidential campaign yet.
All is not lost for DeSantis, Axios concludes, he’s extremely popular in his home state where he just enjoyed a 20-point re-election victory:
Reality check: At home, DeSantis is racking up wins after his 19-point landslide re-election in November. A Washington Post front-page story today is headlined, “DeSantis amasses power — and puts it to use … How DeSantis became Florida’s most powerful governor in a generation.”
With the GOP holding veto-proof control of the state House and Senate, DeSantis is using the current legislative sessions to swiftly advance an agenda to “remake the state to his vision,” the Post writes.
He says in his book — “The Courage to Be Free,” which will be on the New York Times bestseller list next Sunday for the sixth week in a row — that he ultimately aims to “Make America Florida.”
Trump’s poll numbers have strengthened as of late and his attacks seem to be having the intended effect.
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