Earlier this week, a report surfaced that Ron DeSantis had privately told his donors that he would be fundraising for Donald Trump.
Trump, in turn, finally said something nice about DeSantis, but his supporters were not taking the news very well.
Talking Points…
- Trump hits DeSantis hard during primary race
- DeSantis bombshell report
- Analysis
The attacks against DeSantis started long before the Florida governor ever entered the race. The media had asked DeSantis if he planned on running for president in 2024, and DeSantis stated, “No comment,” which sent Trump into orbit. He considered that a sign of disloyalty, and Trump started the attacks immediately.
It all started with Trump telling the story of DeSantis “begging” him for his endorsement when he first launched his governor’s campaign, claiming that DeSantis came to him “on his knees.” But Trump was just getting started. He would later say that DeSantis could not handle the scrutiny of being in a national race and that he would go home whining to his “mommy.”
Then it really got dirty, with Trump and his surrogates accusing DeSantis of being gay, of wearing high heels (they were referring to DeSantis’ trademark cowboy boots), and of wearing lifts in his shoes. It got even more personal than that, as they started rumors that DeSantis might be a pedophile. The attacks also started against his wife, Casey, hinting that she was a closet lesbian as well as faking her cancer diagnosis. To be perfectly honest, the attacks were despicable.
Trump felt no remorse at all over attacking DeSantis in this fashion after regularly complaining about all the lies he claimed the media and other candidates told about him. When asked about hitting a fellow Republican in this manner, Trump shrugged it off, stating:
“I don’t care if he’s a Republican.
“We hit him hard, and now he’s like a wounded falling bird from the skies.”
All of the attacks against DeSantis worked, as DeSantis refused to get down in the mud with Trump, and he was eliminated from the presidential race before it ever really got started. By the time voting started, it was a mere formality that DeSantis was still even in the race. When DeSantis announced that he was dropping out, he threw his support behind Trump, but it clearly sounded like DeSantis was only doing so because of the loyalty pledge he had made with the RNC, a pledge that Trump himself had not signed.
The attacks against DeSantis did not stop after he left the race, with Trump continuing to hit him, as well as Trump surrogates. I check social media every day to see the temperature on this, and DeSantis supporters were livid over the attacks, which then led to Trump surrogates saying they did not need or want DeSantis voters to support Trump. That led to this week when a report surfaced that DeSantis told a group of supporters at a private gathering at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in South Florida that he would be helping raise money for Donald Trump for this election cycle. That report was confirmed by a DeSantis adviser, who told NBC News:
“He did say it in front of a group of people at the Hard Rock.”
A DeSantis bundler then added that he thought the majority of people attending the event took the cue from DeSantis and would now fall in line behind Trump. Trump apparently saw the report, which he addressed during an event at Mar-a-Lago, telling his supporters:
“Today, I heard very nice things. I heard he’s going to campaign very hard for me. And he’s going to raise a lot of money for me. Ron, we like you. Welcome back.”
This is a really interesting situation that could both help and hurt DeSantis. His loyal followers are livid that he would even entertain raising money for Trump after the horrible things that were said about DeSantis and his wife. I have seen many say they will look for another candidate in the future to back for president even if DeSantis runs again. On the flip side, we all know that if Trump gives DeSantis the thumbs up, MAGA will go back to supporting DeSantis again and back off the attacks.
I am still trying to figure all this out in terms of how it will impact the 2028 race. If DeSantis is back in Trump's good graces, one would think that he would be the clear favorite heading into 2028, but where does that leave Donald Trump’s VP if he wins this election? We would expect Trump to pick a VP that he can hand off the next election to, but DeSantis being in the picture throws a big wrench into that. There is clearly more to this picture than we are being told, so I am very curious to see how all this plays out as we continue to move closer to election day.
