DeSantis and Lake have media armor. Every barb, every arrow, every thwack with a sword aimed at their heart by the media just bounces off. Because people know that the media really has become, as Trump said, enemies of the people.
It's the "because" that I think is wrong. If it was just that people didn't trust the media, every Republican would have the exact same armor. But they don't. The reason media attacks don't stick to either DeSantis or Lake is because they are both very disciplined and adept communicators. They may talk about ideas that offend the mainstream media, but they always choose their actual words very carefully so there is no ambiguity, and no chance to distort what they meant.
That's not an easy thing to do, and it's why they're superstars.
That is true. It is also true, to take advantage of the distrust of the Media, the candidate has to show they understand the distrust and share in the contempt.
It is a feedback loop.
President Trump did that in spades.
DeSantis and Lake do that very well.
Many others do it not quite as well.
The vast majority of Republicans, prior to 2016, ran from it.
The common wisdom was: Don't pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel.
That saying has been turned on its head.
Today, pick the fight to show you are not corrupt.