Trump obsessively attacks DeSantis as if Ron is the front runner
Social media reveals us all, but perhaps no more than the former President of the United States.
Donald Trump’s Truth Social account is a daily declaration of a sense of political desperation that he seems to run counter to A position in a Republican field that he currently controls.
Trump, by all accounts, is the frontrunner. He leads in multi-candidate polls, and a recent Emerson poll put him up by 40 points in New Hampshire.
It’s hard to believe this number. On the other hand, no one is ahead of forty in any polls.
However, Trump is unlike any first candidate we’ve seen before – not necessarily in his strength or weakness, but in his apparent insecurities.
Front runners usually try to sneak up on the rest of the field, trying to cement their dominant position by not interacting with mere runners.
It doesn’t always work, but they still don’t show despair, unless they get seriously injured (think George W. Bush after New Hampshire’s loss to John McCain in 2000) or fall off a cliff (John Kerry) in 2004 and McCain in 2008 after collapse of their front campaign for a brief period).
Whatever the Trump 2024 campaign is, it’s not above the fray.
After Trump’s Truth Social account, you’d think so Ron DeSantis was getting away with itTrump was an envious, obsessed, trying to figure out some way, any way, to start closing a 20-point gap.
Either that, or you might imagine Trump was having some kind of personal breakdown.
Authors don’t tend to get excited about other authors’ success, but they don’t usually go public about their feelings. Trump is not forbidden.
He can’t stand the stories DeSantis’ new bestselling book“,” The courage to be free.
Don’t be fooled by reports of its success – Trump wants to know political groups are buying him, and he’s already been discounted 30% on day one. Just wait until his volume comes out: “Trump’s speeches have a lot different prices, and they’re a coffee table book.”
Naturally, he’s deeply concerned with the size of DeSantis’ crowds and their disapproval.
“Very small crowds for Ron DeSanctimonious in Iowa,” Trump wrote that day, against the evidenceand included a note, “There’s never been another boss like me like a PRO FARMER. Tell that to Ron DeSanctimonious when he shows up at your door, hat in hand. Tell him to go home!”
He reduces DeSantis’ success in governing, built on two decades of Republican political effort in the state, to nice weather. “Florida has been doing great for many years, long before Ron DeSanctus even got there. The sunshine and the ocean are great things to have!” he said.
And DeSantis is sure to be a RINO and GLOBALIST. His associations tell the tale, according to Trump, from Jeb Bush to (the odd) George Soros.
Trump claims DeSantis is a “disciple of RINO Paul Ryan” and groups him with alleged globalists in what Trump calls the No Growth Club, the free market-oriented political group.
He’s happy to recycle any Democratic demagoguery as long as it’s a convenient tool against DeSantis, especially on entitlements.
“Ron fought so hard to unfairly cut Social Security and Medicare,” Trump fought recently, in a continuous refrain. “Also, he wanted to raise the minimum Social Security age to at least 70.”
Trump is a guerrilla marketing guru, so maybe a year from now, one of the main things Republican voters will know about DeSantis is that he allegedly cut RINO off entitlements.
Certainly, it is better for an advanced candidate to be vigilant about potential threats than to be complacent. But staying prepared is one thing. It’s one thing to be almost in a panic—declaring bad faith, pettiness, and staunch defensiveness—is another.
There are signs that Trump is in a strong position in the battle for the nomination – and his attachment to Ron DeSantis is not among them.
