Big news surfaced over the weekend regarding a reported meeting that took place between Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump.
The meeting was reportedly brokered by Steve Witkoff, a Florida real estate broker who is familiar with both parties.
Talking Points…
- Trump unloads on DeSantis
- Reported meeting for support during the campaign
- Analysis
After the 2022 election, there was no hotter property in the GOP than Ron DeSantis. He turned Florida all red and was even ahead of Trump in primary polling, but then the attacks started. DeSantis refused to comment on his intentions for the 2024 race, which led to Donald Trump and his surrogates going after Ron DeSantis seven ways to Sunday, with no attack too low.
DeSantis stayed mum while Trump and/or his surrogates spread rumors that Ron DeSantis had been in relationships with underage girls. They started rumors that Casey DeSantis was in a relationship with other women. They questioned if Casey’s cancer diagnosis was legitimate because they had never personally seen the medical reports. Then there were the childish attacks regarding DeSantis eating pudding with his fingers and having lifts in his boots.
By the time DeSantis announced he was running, his support had been cut in half, and the campaign was over before it started. Trump ruined his presidential hopes and may have just ended Ron DeSantis’ political career post-governor. When DeSantis bowed out of the race, he made it sound as though the only reason he would support Trump’s campaign was because he promised to, but he surely did not sound like he would be campaigning for Trump. When DeSantis dropped out, he stated:
“It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance.
“While I have had disagreements with Donald Trump such as on the coronavirus pandemic and his elevation of Anthony Fauci, Trump is superior to the current incumbent Joe Biden. That is clear.”
After DeSantis dropped out, Trump congratulated him on a tough campaign and said that he had hoped that DeSantis would join him in beating Joe Biden, but the DeSantis camp more or less went silent after DeSantis dropped out of the race. That all started to change about a week ago when rumors surfaced that DeSantis had told his donors privately that he would work with Trump in the election.
Then, on Sunday afternoon, reports started to blow up that DeSantis and Trump had met, which was heartbreaking to loyal DeSantis supporters. DeSantis did not seem like he would be bending the knee to Trump, but the details of the meeting, though limited, were not good for DeSantis’ spine. According to sources close to Witkoff, it was DeSantis who approached him about setting up the meeting with Trump.
If the reports are accurate, DeSantis will start fundraising and campaigning for Trump. There have also been rumors that DeSantis is now the top VP candidate for Trump, but to this point, DeSantis has been adamant that he does not want to be VP. The DeSantis camp has already started to push DeSantis supporters to get behind the Trump campaign, with Texas businessman Roy Bailey, who was a co-chair of DeSantis’ national finance advisory board, stating:
“I will follow the governor’s lead and I will do anything that he or President Trump ask me to do to help him win this election.
“I know where there are DeSantis supporters all over Texas and all over the country that will want to help President Trump. So that’s what I’ll try to make happen.”
It is impossible to overstate the importance of this meeting for both camps. I am not sure Donald Trump can win without DeSantis’ supporters aligning with the Trump campaign. There are going to be DeSantis supporters who will never align with this, but I would suspect the majority of them will wind up honoring DeSantis’ wishes on this front.
To me, there would have to be two stipulations. First, I would want Trump to publicly apologize for the things that were said about Ron and Casey DeSantis during this race. Second, Trump would have to put it in writing that he would support DeSantis’ 2028 presidential campaign regardless of the outcome of this race and without DeSantis having to sign on to be his VP.
I don’t see how DeSantis saves face because, without that, Trump surrogates will continue to push this narrative that DeSantis caved to Trump and came begging to be part of his campaign. This may be the “right” thing to do for this election cycle, but I don’t see how DeSantis recovers from this politically. How can anyone ever take a man seriously who allowed someone else to say those things about his family and his wife and then fell in line behind that man without so much as an apology? The other option for DeSantis is to not campaign for Trump and drive down-ballot fundraising. I have been checking social media all weekend about this, and rest assured, DeSantis supporters are not very happy about this.
