You knew it was coming. It was only a matter of time before the next big Republican after Donald Trump morphed into the preeminent evil of our time. That honor has been bestowed upon Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, whose effective leadership and penchant for staying on the offensive have rattled the left and their media allies.

Samantha Bee went on a wild rant yesterday, labeling DeSantis as ‘worse than Trump and in the process, managed to show where the left is headed next.

In a recent straw poll, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis came out as Republicans’ first choice for the 2024 presidential election. But before you celebrate Republicans turning away from Trump, take a look at all the ways Ron DeSantis could be…so much worse! pic.twitter.com/LqbwpcBVpx

— Full Frontal (@FullFrontalSamB) June 24, 2021

Let’s begin by noting that nothing in that clip can be called comedy. I thought Bee was a comedian, and her show, at least ostensibly, is supposed to be about making people laugh. Instead, she’s become another Stephen Colbert, by which she seeks “clapter” for wildly partisan rants instead of actually being what she claims to be.

I’ll also note that this is just deranged. If you want an example of what happens when people make politics their religion, allowing it to stand in for meaning and purpose, this is a perfect one. Bee clearly has nothing else guiding her. If she did, she wouldn’t be so hysterical about someone like DeSantis. Yes, he’s unique among most Republicans in that he doesn’t just react but is always pushing forward to win conservative and cultural battles. But he’s clearly not Hitler and acting like that strikes me as pure delusion.

But moving past the idiocy of what she’s saying, the strategy here is deliberate and fully expected. The only caveat is that perhaps it wasn’t expected to happen this quickly. This is what Democrats always do. Geroge W. Bush is Hitler until Mitt Romney comes along. Then, Bush is the harmless guy who paints who they wish all Republicans were like. Once Trump came along, Romney was rehabbed. Now that DeSantis is the frontrunner for 2024 in many people’s minds, and clearly, the one Democrats fear the most, he must become worse than the Republican who came before him. In this case, that’s Trump, who they will never love, but they will at least soften enough to claim he wasn’t as bad as the current guy.

That’s the playbook. Here’s another example.

pic.twitter.com/Vxp8QRm1gs

— Chief Impact Officer BT (@back_ttys) June 25, 2021

The irony is that this will only help DeSantis. Republicans tend to rally around those who are attacked the most, and with DeSantis doing something awesome in Florida on a near-daily basis, there’s plenty of fodder for the left to gnash teeth over.