Donald Trump is making another attempt at the White House. Whether he will actually win as a Republican candidate remains to be seen. In the slipstream of the ex-president, Ron DeSantis is patiently waiting for his chance.
One day after the midterm elections in the USA, who could be the tougher bones in a possible showdown for the White House: Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis? Biden’s curt response: “It’ll be fun to watch them fight each other.”
Looks like he might be right.
“There were many, many disappointments”, . “That’s just the reality.” On Tuesday, the re-elected governor of Florida commented for the first time on the congressional elections, in which the Republicans wanted to make a big showing, but ultimately showed a “very disappointing performance”. At least that’s how DeSantis sees it.
The timing of the blunt election analysis already made it clear who the show buster was in his eyes. A few hours later that was widely expected. Asked about the former president’s intentions, DeSantis first boasted about his own accomplishments – only to then place a telling tip: At the end of the day, just look at last Tuesday’s results.
And they were known to be poor. The Republicans are considered the big losers in the midterm elections and also blame the disappointing performance on Trump, whose . DeSantis, on the other hand, amazed his party. He was confirmed in office as governor with a solid result, although or precisely because he had not counted on the support of the former president during the election campaign.
So: Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis, who would he be the more promising Republican candidate? Scholars disagree about this. In any case, the governor of Florida thinks the momentum is on his side – and, unlike Trump, is apparently in no hurry to create facts.
First wait
Although everything currently indicates that DeSantis is also entering the race for the Republican presidential candidacy, reports, citing those around him, the governor has not yet made a final decision. In any case, Trump’s candidacy does not play a role.
A DeSantis consultant was quoted as saying that this was even “pretty irrelevant”. “He has the ability to rule for the next few months while Trump has to try to convince people he still has the skills to do so.” It’s “almost as if he could watch Trump hit himself.”
Assuming Trump’s iron grip on the party may be easing after the Republicans’ lackluster midterm election performance, more and more voters seem to be fed up with his endless talk about the allegedly stolen 2020 presidential election and the constant controversy surrounding him.
One believes that the former President would still be the favorite in the race. Accordingly, 47 percent of Republican voters supported Trump if the Republican primaries for the presidential nomination were held today. DeSantis would be at a disadvantage, behind which only 33 percent would gather.
But will it stay like this? Especially since a majority of all voters surveyed (53 percent) are of the opinion that Trump should definitely not run again – the rejection would have grown again compared to a survey before the midterm elections (48 percent). While DeSantis repeatedly gained popularity (from 24 to 26 percent). A YouGov poll commissioned after the midterm election puts DeSantis slightly ahead of Trump.
The “Trump with a brain”, , could be dangerous for the original. This was also shown by the reaction of the very same, the DeSantis after his historic election victory with , should he run for the presidency, him as , about an advisor and him a : “Ron DeSanctimonious”, the sanctimonious Ron.
Ron DeSantis, the “sanitized version” of Donald Trump
For the New York Post, Florida’s governor is just DeFUTURE. The day after the election, the tabloid hailed DeSantis as the “future of the Republicans” — and mocked Trump as “Trumpty Dumpty,” in reference to the egg-like prankster from Alice in Wonderland.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s other conservative publications, which had once supported the former President to the point of abandonment, also turned with remarkable contempt from the “party’s biggest loser” () to the “new leader of the Republican Party” (). It may stay that way.
According to reports, the media empire wants to withdraw its support from the former favourite. “We were clear with Donald,” quoted an unnamed source from the company. Accordingly, there were talks between Murdoch and Trump in which the media mogul made it clear “that we cannot support another candidacy for the White House.”
Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch’s eldest son and heir presumptive to his media empire, has long “been keen on Ron DeSantis,” who is “regarded as a sanitized version of Donald” within the company, according to the source.
In fact, Trump has piled up all sorts of mortgages that could prove toxic to Republicans during the campaign. Two impeachment trials, his supporters’ storming the Capitol in Washington, pending court cases – the meager results at the midterms hardly seem worth mentioning by comparison.
Strategy consultant Stephen Lawson, who was once communications director for DeSantis’ successful 2018 gubernatorial campaign, therefore assumes that the “normal, average Republican” is ready to support DeSantis instead of Trump. On top of that, Trump’s attacks on other Republicans – including DeSantis – would do the former president no good.
“Every decision Trump makes breaks a small part of his base support – and having a popular alternative waiting in the wings speeds that process up,” Lawson told Politico.
DeSantis is still keeping a low profile as to whether he actually wants to challenge Trump for the Republican presidential candidacy. But it is obvious that he sees himself destined for higher dignities. After eloquently analyzing the mid-term election disaster on Tuesday, he also shared a success story – his.
He doesn’t think any other governor has been criticized as harshly as he has been in the past four years, DeSantis claimed. But that’s just “noise” anyway. Leadership, accountability and results are what really matter. “That’s exactly what we did,” he said, referring to the election results. “And so, in my opinion, Florida really shows the blueprint of what you can do to not just win, but to really, fundamentally change the entire political terrain.”
Last but not least, it is the terrain that Trump is also laying claim to.
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Source: Stern
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