Opinion | DeSantis is letting Trump embarrass Him

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Watching the nascent Republican primary race makes me sick of dj vu. As much as I hate Donald Trump’s opponents, I’m desperate for one of them to prevail. Trump may be easier to beat for Joe Biden, but whoever gets the Republican nomination has a chance of being elected, and the possibility of another Trump term is intolerable. So it’s disheartening to see Trump pandering, once again, to the cowardice of his opponents.

Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor who was supposed to stop Donald Trump, is decorating even before entering the race, with his poll numbers softening and donors anxious. Trump, meanwhile, seems more amused than deterred by his ever-expanding scandals, and is racking up endorsements at DeSantiss’ expense. There are several explanations for why this is happening, including the backlash over Trumps indictment, DeSantiss near total lack of charisma, and concern among Republican elites about the sweeping abortion ban he just signed. But there’s another dynamic at work here, and I think it’s a big one: Like Trump’s 2016 rivals, DeSantis mistakenly believes the primary race is about the issues, while Trump instinctively understands that it’s about in dominance.

The super PAC’s attack ads about Social Security and Medicare illustrate the DeSantiss problem. The ad from the Trump camp was inspired by a report about DeSantis eating pudding with his fingers on an airplane. In a sickening video of a disheveled man eating chocolate pudding with his bare hands, the place says DeSantis has dirty fingers on all senior entitlements. But the policy argument is just an excuse for the horrific visuals; the point is not to disagree with DeSantis, but to embarrass him.

The ad from DeSantiss allies completely misses this point. It tries to fact-check the claims in the pro-Trump spot with a video of DeSantis promising to protect Social Security, then tries to turn the tables by airing a clip of Trump saying that in some points are view rights. Trump should fight the Democrats, not lie about Governor DeSantis, the ad continues to whine about Trump’s aggression instead of countering it.

This strategy didn’t work in 2016 and it doesn’t work today. Witness the parade of Florida Republicans who turned their backs on DeSantis and bowed to Trump with their endorsements.

Republican attempts to overtake Trump from the right, a strategy tried by Ted Cruz in 2016, are also falling flat again. Ahead of Mike Pences speech to the National Rifle Association last week, Politico reported that the former vice-president was aiming to get to the right of Donald Trump on guns, bringing the two’s debates behind closed doors to White House in the public eye. Pence was booed by the crowd and then jeered by his former boss.

The upcoming Republican primary race, like the last, will be fought on a limbic level, not an ideological one. It is about who is weak and who is strong. That’s why, if Republicans want a non-Trump candidate in 2024, they’ll need to find someone willing to destroy him. I understand that this is complicated by the fact that Republican primary voters often seem excited by Trump’s most repulsive traits, including his authoritarianism, rampant greed, incitement to violence, cronyism with white supremacists and antisemite, and the corruption that has led to so many. felony charges. It is also difficult to make Trump lose when the majority of the right-wing base believes in the fantasy that in 2020 he will actually win.

Still, it’s worth wondering how Trump would handle a candidate like Trump. I don’t think he’ll do it through passive-aggressive sniping, like when DeSantis, while attacking New York district attorney Alvin Bragg for prosecuting Trump, worked on a dig about the former president who pays hush money to a porn star. Trump, faced with an opponent with Trump’s own shortcomings, will just go after them all until he finds something that sticks.

Trump’s approach to DeSantiss’ war with Disney is instructive. Until about five minutes ago, DeSantiss’ willingness to go up against seemingly woke corporations even a Florida tourism giant like Disney was part of his appeal. But Trump didn’t try to show that he was harder on Disney than DeSantis. Instead, he tricked DeSantis by taking Disney’s side, taunting the governor about destroying Disney and assuming the company would stop investing in Florida. There is, so far, little sign that this is hurting Trump, even though the right has spent months demonizing Disney, a Tucker Carlson company compared to a sex offender. Consistent displays of dominance are more important to Republicans than consistent displays of principle.

This does not mean that Republican candidates should try to copy Trumps insult comic act; they will almost certainly fail if they do. But they have to be, to use a Trumpish word, tough. As House speaker, Nancy Pelosi repeatedly blasted Trump not because he imitated her, but because he treated her like a petulant child. Most of Trumps would-be Republican rivals, on the other hand, treat him like an unstable father figure, fantasizing about succeeding him even as they fear his wrath.

One exception is former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who understands that you can’t beat Trump without fighting him. I don’t believe that Republican voters have punished people who criticize Trump, he told Politico, adding, If you think you’re a better person to be president than Donald Trump, you better do it. It’s hard to tell if Christie can, because he’s lowered himself in front of Trump more than once. But he is right that no one will lose to Trump until they stop acting afraid of him.

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