DeSantis largely ignored the Trump barbs amid the attacks

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is staying silent on Donald Trump, betting that the controversial former president may be his own worst enemy when it comes to his prospects in 2024.

The long-standing alliance between Trump and DeSantis has further crumbled amid signs that the Florida governor is moving toward a 2024 presidential bid.

Last weekend, Trump took direct aim at DeSantis during campaign swings in New Hampshire and South Carolina, accusing his one-time acolyte of “disloyalty” and political opportunism.

But DeSantis has avoided acknowledging Trump’s attacks — a strategy many Republicans say is intended to make DeSantis a more equal alternative to the bombastic former president.

“No one has done more to hurt Donald Trump than himself and I think Gov. DeSantis is absolutely making the right move here by completely ignoring Trump and letting him throw boomerangs ,” said Stephen Lawson, a Georgia-based strategist who served as communications director for DeSantis’ successful 2018 run for governor.

While Trump has taken credit for DeSantis’ political success — his 2018 endorsement is widely credited with helping DeSantis cross the finish line in a tough primary — Lawson said the Florida governor is now has “a powerful story to tell itself without having to engage with Donald Trump.”

“Given time and opportunity, Donald Trump will blow himself up and I think we’re seeing glimpses of that,” he said. “When there’s a strong, conservative, positive vision waiting in the wings, I think it’s an attractive alternative for Republicans.”

A longtime Florida Republican donor, who would support DeSantis should he launch a presidential campaign, said the governor should not be forced into a food fight with Trump.

“Everything, now, will go his way,” said the donor. “Why did he stoop to such a level? He didn’t have to, especially coming off such a strong victory in November. He looked like an old man in the room if he acted like he was beneath him.”

A source close to DeSantis said the governor “sees no real benefit in engaging in a public spat with Trump.”

“The best thing he can do is ignore these attacks and keep DeSantis,” the source said. “Voters want two things: authenticity and they want candidates of action. One thing he does is he doesn’t let any new grass grow under his feet.”

Indeed, for someone who hasn’t publicly said whether or not he’s considering a presidential run, DeSantis is in one of the strongest positions a prospective candidate could ask for.

He won re-election last year by the largest margin of any Republican candidate for governor in Florida’s modern history, and some early polls show him easily routing Trump in a hypothetical head-to-head primary matchup .

He is also starting his second term in the governor’s mansion with a vise-like grip on power. Republicans now hold supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature, and for the first time since Reconstruction, not a single Democrat holds a statewide office, giving DeSantis a clear path to pursue his governing agenda in Florida.

DeSantis’ advisers are said to be actively preparing for a presidential campaign and reaching out to potential employees in anticipation of an announcement, though a final decision has yet to be made.

Meanwhile, Trump finds himself in a somewhat weakened position after ruling the GOP for more than half a decade.

The GOP’s lackluster overall performance in the 2022 midterm elections – along with the high-profile defeats of some of Trump’s endorsed candidates – has prompted a growing number of Republicans to question his political instincts and influence. At the same time, his latest campaign for president has been criticized by some as lacking both energy and a coherent strategy.

“The Trump magic of 2016 seems to be gone,” said one Florida Republican, who has been in touch with DeSantis in recent years. “The loss of [President] Biden in 2020 really put a chokehold on Trump’s effectiveness.”

DeSantis, the Republican said, “is letting his own accomplishments and abilities speak rather than taking any direct potshots” at Trump, “probably to the point where there is an announcement of DeSantis’ candidacy.”

“The latest salvos from Trump are unlikely to elicit a direct response,” the Republican said. “It’s almost a punch at this point.”

DeSantis has not indicated a willingness to contact Trump directly. After Trump accused him over the weekend of “trying to rewrite history” regarding his early response to the Covid-19 pandemic, DeSantis delivered a restrained response Tuesday, saying his surprising margin of success in his 2022 reelection bid spoke for itself.

“In my case, not only did we win re-election, we won with the highest percentage of the vote that any Republican gubernatorial candidate has had in the history of the state of Florida,” he said. “We won by the largest raw vote margin — more than 1.5 million votes — than any gubernatorial candidate in Florida history.”

“So all I’m going to say is that the verdict was handed down by the State of Florida,” he added. At no point in his remarks did he mention Trump by name.

However, some Republicans warned that DeSantis would not be able to ignore Trump indefinitely. Eventually, they said, he had to go on the offensive or risk allowing the former president to define him.

Dallas Woodhouse, a longtime GOP operative, said DeSantis has the luxury for now to focus on his job as Florida governor. If he ultimately decides to run for president, however, he will be subject to the same ups and downs as any other candidate.

“DeSantis is going to hit the ground running,” Woodhouse said. “He has the luxury of most Republicans only knowing good things about him now. Eventually he will have some negatives like any other candidate.

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But, Woodhouse added, “Americans generally elect people with a recent successful governing record. And DeSantis has that right now.”

A veteran Republican campaign operative said DeSantis’ winning track record – especially his upset victory in some traditional Democratic strongholds like Miami-Dade County last year – may be his best opponent in any of the Trump’s attack.

“It feels like as a party after three losing cycles, we’re finally ready to make the argument that, hey, it’s time to win,” the person said. “I think he’s starting to make an argument.”

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