For nearly two years, most conservatives believed Donald Trump would have a 2024 comeback. The man who put Americans first had long vowed to return to the White House. And, early in the GOP primaries, Trump was far and away the frontrunner.
The only person who seemed able to best him was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. And even he was behind Trump by double digits.
Not anymore.
From Fox News:
Former President Trump has a slim lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a hypothetical Republican primary, according to a new poll that revealed where potential GOP candidates stand in the early days of the heated 2024 race…
Trump leads with 40% of the vote, and top contender DeSantis secured 36% support… The Florida governor was neck and neck with the former president among all registered voters, 39% to 37%.
This might come as alarming news to anyone fiercely loyal to Donald Trump. And it seems it has rattled Trump as well. Because although he “never thinks” about Ron DeSantis, he went out of his way to insult the former ally. And folks did not like it one bit.
From Daily Wire:
Former President Donald Trump faced backlash online Monday for praising failed Florida Democrat gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist in a video attacking Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis…
“Trump’s non stop snipping at DeSantis, who isn’t responding, shows the power hierarchy and shows who is threatened,” political commentator Mike Cernovich tweeted. “Contenders call out champions, not the other way around.”
“This is absolutely ridiculous,” podcast host Dave Rubin tweeted.
This is really shocking for Trump. He posted a video attacking successful, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump went as far as to claim Florida was going great before DeSantis, even under former Democrat Gov. Charlie Crist.
This can’t be further from the truth. Trump is suddenly supporting Democrats and former so-called RINOs like Rick Scott, all to trash DeSantis, who is a winning governor? Trump claims DeSantis was losing in 2018, before he got his endorsement.
But Trump seems to be forgetting that DeSantis won a landslide re-election victory in 2022, defeating seemingly “successful” former governor Charlie Crist. DeSantis won re-election by over a million votes, without Trump’s endorsement.
How did Trump do in his re-election bid? Oh, right…
Conservatives were not kind to Trump’s attempts at rewriting history. They called his dishonest attack “ridiculous.” Many pointed out that Trump is doing this unprovoked. DeSantis has not attacked Trump, nor has he responded to any of Trump’s jabs.
One commentator said, “Contenders call out champions, not the other way around” suggesting Trump knows he will lose to DeSantis.
It’s unusual why Trump feels so threatened by DeSantis. If he really wants to unite the GOP going into 2024, he should be building support among all of its leaders. Instead, Trump seems to be burning as many bridges as he can.
That will only help Democrats, in the end.
