The 2024 election is approaching faster than people might think and some of the candidates are already in campaign mode. For former President Donald Trump, that means attacking his foremost threat in an attempt to get it to break before he even reaches the stage.
That foremost threat happens to be Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and sure enough, Trump has been laying into the man. In return, DeSantis has been doing nothing to respond outside of the occasional comment about not having time for the attacks since he’s busy running Florida.
As my colleague Bonchie recently covered, DeSantis was asked about an attack by Trump ReTruth, accusing the governor of being a “groomer.” He simply responded that he’s working for Florida, not smearing other Republicans.
BREAKING: DeSantis responds to Trump ReTruth accusing him of being a "groomer"
"I'd just say this. I spend my time delivering results for the people of Florida and fighting against Joe Biden […] I don't spend my time trying to smear other Republicans." pic.twitter.com/Ddj9Mb1MYj
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) February 8, 2023
This is just one of many attacks. Trump even gave DeSantis a fancy new nickname “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
While DeSantis hasn’t cracked from the attacks yet, some believe it’s only a matter of time before DeSantis has to enter the ring with Trump where the former President will destroy him.
As reported by The Hill, former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin said this very thing on “The View”:
“On DeSantis, I think he’s so overhyped. I’m just gonna be honest. I have seen Trump take out every mini version of Trump for the last five years,” Griffin said during Thursday’s edition of ABC’s “The View.” “Right now, the party wants someone other than Trump, they want Trump-lite, so they’re boosting and hyping DeSantis.”
However confident supporters are of Trump’s ability to go head to head with DeSantis, Trump’s climb to the top will be steep. Not that he hasn’t climbed that hill before, but as polls from the Club for Growth shows, DeSantis hasn’t lifted a finger against Trump and he already has a double-digit lead against the former President.
This is because DeSantis is enjoying a massive advantage that Trump doesn’t have; he’s still in office. If he was your typical Republican governor then this might not be that big of a deal, but DeSantis isn’t a typical Republican governor. This is the governor that made a name for himself by going on the offensive on almost every problem he’s come across. Whether it was COVID-19 restrictions or Disney, DeSantis didn’t hesitate to go scorched Earth.
While Trump might share that quality, the spotlight is currently on DeSantis since he’s currently the one able to make decisions and changes within the system. His deeds are fresher in the mind.
If you were to take a different perspective, you could say that DeSantis is fighting back against Trump but he’s doing so indirectly by directly making Florida a place that conservatives dream about. With this in mind, every time Trump makes an accusation calls him a name, or says something insulting, DeSantis can turn right around and do something in Florida that makes conservatives applaud him.
On Trump, all DeSantis has to do is nothing.
The question becomes, how will Trump get around this? So far, all the attacks that he’s unleashed on the governor have come up rather short, and some have even backfired. If Trump is going to win the 2024 presidency, he’s going to have to take a new approach. It was one thing when he was bashing establishment Republicans and Democrats, but DeSantis is something else.
This doesn’t mean Trump doesn’t have a way in. His base is still wide and very enthusiastic, but there’s still a lot of football left to play and there’s still time to find new ways to win over Republicans who are currently enraptured with the Florida governor. Still, this will be a new test for Trump as it may require him to adopt strategies he’s never had to go with before.
