Enter the Areana
Is a few weeks of staged interviews and bad poll numbers enough to derail the Ron DeSantis teamâs presidential aspirations? Some say yes. Donald Trump doesnât care.
In the midst of a national book tour and after already having made a stop in the important GOP primary state of Iowa with New Hampshire and South Carolina both still on the itinerary, Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has all but formally announced his intent to run for president in 2024.
As many within the Republican party, and even more so within the establishment anticipate the official announcement soon, those close to the DeSantis Hive feel that Ronâs decision hinges on the current Florida State session of Congress (ending in May) and with the possibility of amending the Sunshine Stateâs âResign to Runâ law which currently prevents the Governor from departing his current post to challenge for the GOP nomination without abandoning the governorship to do so.
With DeSantis seemingly unwilling to complete his second term as Governor and to fall in line behind the current GOP frontrunner, former President, Donald J. Trump, the 45th President has placed DeSantis squarely in the crosshairs of some of his earliest primary attacks. While some within the Republican Party feel that Trumpâs attacks are both unwarranted and over the top, the failure to realize that after falling short in 2020, the Trump 2024 Team seeks to bottle some of that ole 2016 campaign magic to clear a path to the nomination.
This includes comparing and contrasting past legislative wins and losses against the field AND of course, reviving those personal attacks and targeted attacks nicknames.
As many conservatives weighed in last weekend regarding the possible indictment of Donald Trump by the radical, Soros-funded Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, DeSantis waited for a public speaking event the following Monday to make a statement regarding the matter.
Although most of DeSantisâ answer was for the most part, scripted and status quo, his side remarks about ânot knowing enough about paying hush money to porn stars to buy their silenceâ was a telling deficiency coming from the soon-to-be-announced campaign.
DeSantis would go on this to sit down with click-bait, serial interview editor, Piers Morgan who lobbed softball questions at DeSantis and playfully caught his pre-prepared rebuttals to questions ranging from DeSantis verbally rewriting his stance on covid-19 to how many fingers he eats pudding with and what he thinks of the nicknames that Donald Trump has already laid on him.
In a prime time interview with Eric Boling Thursday, the Florida Governor would walk back his Trump-aligned foreign policy take on the conflict in Ukraine which he provided to Tucker Carlson a week before to embody a stance on Russia that paralleled failed presidential candidates Mitt Romney and John McCain.
Combine that with a terrible two weeks of polling that saw DeSantis plummet anywhere from 15-30 pts. behind Trump for the top spot in the early primary season and a lot of people are finally starting to ask the question that we have been asking on the Steak for Breakfast Podcast for the better part of the last calendar year:
Is Ron DeSantis going to make it?
Even with the ammunition of the Rupert Murdoch-backed, Fox media empire, the billionaire donor class and the Republican establishment, including Paul Ryan, Karl Rove, Jeb Bush and now top campaign aides of Senator Ted Cruz and Governor Glenn Youngkin behind him, Ron DeSantis hasnât appeared (at least in the polling) to be gaining any traction in combating the driving force behind Trump and his MAGA base.
In fact, DeSantis is losing ground, continues to slide to a point where people are finally starting to notice.
In what could have been a clear case of presenting Republican voters with a primary that gave them a choice between a president who some consider a once in a lifetime political icon and a younger, rising star in the party who who at one point seemed to be the heir apparent, instead are being shown a masterclass in what vaulted Donald Trump into the Oval Office in 2016.
Attack. Disenfranchise. Discard. Move on.
For as many who are offended, the are even more pundits for both sides of the political spectrum who agree that itâs working.
Donald Trump and the core of the original campaign team who remains used a method that has worked to his advantage to eliminate a crowded 2016 GOP primary field.
His 2024 competition looks to be a large slate of former administration officials and a handful of governors who most insiders anticipated eventually includes DeSantis.
This plays into Trump Worldâs wheelhouse as the former president will be able to address which former officials worked for the MAGA movement while he was in office and who didnât get the job done. For the governors who jump into the race, Trump will surely highlight which candidates didnât work with him while in office to Make America Great Again as well - again, all catering to Trumpâs campaign strengths.
With a looming indictment in the Manhattan D.A.âs office still shelved until next week (if ever at this point), the 45th President of the United States has the wind at his back as he prepares to take the stage tonight in Waco, Texas for the first campaign rally of the 2024 Presidential Election cycle.
In a any different political year, the path to the GOP nomination would be a long, un -telegraphed story, complete with all the twists and turns, high drama and elegant bow outs typical of the race until a champion was eventually crowned.
The fact that Donald Trump remains in the breach both as the gatekeeper and the kingmaker in the party provides little room outside of the expectation that the nomination is his to lose.
And itâs for these reasons and more, that we will continue to bet the farm on the man whoâs already proven how easy he can make it look while getting there.
That man, at least in 2024 is Donald J. Trump.
âą Rone is the Executive Producer and Host on the Steak for Breakfast Podcast. You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts at: