
Why Does DeSantis Keep Letting Trump Take Shots at Him?
How long can the Florida governor absorb blows from Trump before he looks weak?
How many times can you let someone punch you before everyone else thinks youāre a sucker?
Ron DeSantis is about to find out.
Donald Trump has disgustingly smeared DeSantis on social media, gone after DeSantis at his presidential campaign rally in Waco on Saturday, and used a primetime interview on Fox News on Monday to question DeSantisās ability to win Florida without his help.
So far, DeSantis has accepted it all as if he were being initiated into the 2024 race with a āThank you, sir, may I have another?ā plastered-on smile.
Example: After Trump shared an unfounded smear about DeSantis being a āgroomerā and then tested a bunch of juvenile nicknames for the Florida governor, including "Ron DeSanctimonious," DeSantis grinned at the sobriquet and told Piers Morgan, āI donāt really know what it means, but I kind of like it.ā An oddly submissive posture for someone who is supposed to be such a tough guy, no?
While Trumpās audience may not always welcome his hits on DeSantis, that doesnāt mean they canāt do damage. If DeSantis wants to bill himself as a fighter, heās got to live up to the hype, which, so far, is proving to be more of a fanboy cartoon image than the actual picture.
Take a gander at Morganās headline for the DeSantis interview: āRon DeSantis rips Trumpās character, chaotic leadership style.ā But what were DeSantisās big, swaggering hits? He gave a demure answer about Trumpās expected indictment, offered a polite contrast about their approaches to COVID, and talked about how he wonāt get drawn into social media battles. Oh.
Morgan said this would āignite a firestorm in the Republican party.ā Spoiler: It most definitely did not. Forgive the guy for his blatant wishcasting.
Media folks like Morgan want a brawl because big fights mean big ratings. And, various kingdoms of the Murdoch empire, which Morgan represents as he conducted this interview for Fox Nation and wrote about it in the New York Post, are itching to broker and cover the match between DeSantis and Trump.
Fox host Jesse Waters openly expressed exasperation on Tuesday with DeSantisās unwillingness to get into the ring:
Heās suffering. He is bleeding. [Trump] is painting him as this RINO, consultant-driven guy who doesnāt have what it takes. And Ronās quiet. And if I were Ron, I would start talking because every day that goes by that Trump draws blood, by the time you get into an announcement situation, youāre going to be bloodied up.
I guess Waters wasnāt satisfied with the sappy sermon DeSantis gave Morgan about George Washington: āWhen we won the American Revolution, Washington surrendered his sword. [King] George III said heās the greatest man in the world if he gives up power.ā
Probably because everyone knows Donald Trump is nothing like George Washington. And Trump is never going to unwillingly give up power.
Republican voters may accept DeSantisās attempt at stoicism for a while, but at some point, it could start to look more like weakness.
While it may be hard for our exhausted republic to acknowledge, Trump is fully running for president again and has been for many months. And hereās whatās important:
Trump is running against DeSantis. But DeSantis isnāt running against Trump yet.
Itās not like there is any shortage of material available for DeSantis to use against Trump, either.
Heās out there talking himself up as the Fat Elvis of the January 6th choir, for goodnessā sake.
The fact that DeSantis hasnāt filed papers with the FEC to officially declare his candidacy is no excuse. Heās doing everything a top-tier presidential candidate would do. Heās courting big donors, doing the book tour, getting chummy with Fox hosts, making stops in early states, standing up his SuperPAC, and poaching staff from 2024 rivals.
But DeSantis doesnāt seem prepared to do the one big thing that matters: show that he intends to beat Trump instead of sidestepping him.
DeSantis appears to think he can wait to formally announce and thenāmaybe!āengage in the dirty business of fighting to define both himself and his opponent sometime after his legislative session concludes in May and his Florida pals can give him a proper sendoff. That could be too late.
The drop in the polls DeSantis has suffered for his yet-to-be-declared candidacy is well-documented. Itās probably the result of his blundering assessment of Russiaās war on Ukraine and squishy response to Trumpās potential indictment. Or maybe itās something else: Maybe anyone paying attention, seeing how DeSantis is content to let Trump take so many free shots at him, is wondering whether heās got what it takes.