He might have made this decision on his own but I'm thinking that he was persuaded by the disloyal RINOs telling him that Trump was going to be put in jail or otherwise taken out of the race and that this was "his time."
If so, it was bad advice.
Had DeSantis fully condemned the lawfare being waged against Trump and stood behind him, instead of running against him hoping that the lawfare would work, he would not only have been the clear front runner for 2028, but if Trump WAS somehow taken down by this lawfare, MAGA people would have rallied around him in 2024 as the logical alternative.
Now he is damaged goods with the MAGA movement, and that's too bad because he really has been a solid governor for Florida since dropping out of the presidential race, which he clearly wasn't ready for.
Glad to see his focus is back on Florida and I'm glad to see him cracking down on retail theft, something that all too many states seemingly allow.
Yup. Timing is everything and his was not good. Really bothers me that he has effectively killed his future over a mistimed run.
It is too soon to say how much DeSantis has been damaged. If things stay exactly the same over the next 16 years DeSantis, indeed, may be finished.
But things change. Reagan bounced back nicely after losing his presidential campaigns in 1968 and 1976 - the latter against a sitting Republican president.
And Trump rebounded after his disastrous loss to Pat Buchanan when they both ran for president in 2000.
Net: I think there is a good chance things may change in the next 16 to 20 years.
In hindsight of the nomination, at this point in the game, that appears to be correct. I myself was unsure if DeSantis would, or should run this year, and often said on here when people were insistent that he was running, even though he hadn’t announced yet, that he very well may not actually declare, due to the potential negative outcomes. Of course he did, and was soundly defeated in the primary. However, if Trump now loses the general election, then DeSantis purpose for running , which he claimed was to provide us with a winning alternative, may then appear more justified.
Had DeSantis fully condemned the lawfare being waged against Trump and stood behind him, instead of running against him hoping that the lawfare would work, he would not only have been the clear front runner for 2028
I’m not sure this is correct. Living in Florida, I’ve not only researched, but witnessed first hand the deterioration of the relationship between Trump and DeSantis. It’s true that DeSantis rose to fame by defending Trump from Mueller almost nightly on Fox News. For that he got an endorsement from Trump for governor. I don’t for a second believe Trump’s story that DeSantis came to him “begging for it with tears in his eyes,” or if he did, he shouldn’t have had to, after all he had done for Trump.
In any event, DeSantis was still mostly subservient to Trump when Covid broke. I can link you multiple articles proving that while DeSantis was initially delaying the implementation of Trump’s national lockdown guidelines, he immediately fell in line when Trump called him the very night Trump expanded his original “two weeks to stop the spread” until “indefinitely.” According to all reports, especially local ones in Florida, that phone call from Trump convinced DeSantis to comply, which he did. The problems between the two appeared to begin later, when DeSantis thought the lockdowns were proving more harmful than good, and Trump began to chastise him and some other governors for “opening too early” which is again well documented.
But the relationship truly apart when Trump pushed (demanded) the RNC to move the already scheduled 2020 RNC national convention from Jacksonville, Florida, to North Carolina, unexpectedly, and take DeSantis’s speaking spot away completely. There’s never been any adequate explanation of that move given, that I’ve seen, other than Trump wanting to punish DeSantis for not being subservient enough on covid. We lost the election too, and this last minute unnecessary change may haven even played a part in it. In any event, after that happened, Trump and DeSantis have been extremely distant.
I’ve given you all that background as evidence that I don’t think there was ever a chance that Trump would have selected DeSantis as his VP nominee. And, whoever Trump does now pick is overwhelming likely to be the MAGA candidate in 2028, assuming Trump himself isn’t running again.
Now he is damaged goods with the MAGA movement, and that's too bad because he really has been a solid governor for Florida
He’s been better than solid. Even Jeb was solid as a governor. DeSantis has literally been amazing, albeit with a strong legislature behind him. But his list of truly conservative victories is literally unrivaled by anyone I can think of in my lifetime. The list is truly endless, especially if you lived here and were able to witness it first hand.
But you’re right. The absolute hatred of many towards him for daring to oppose Trump in 2024, when it’s yet to be proven if Trump can do better than he did in 2020, has been surprising. Now Trump’s efforts to move the RNC further to the left, and do things like make guaranteed government spending on some items, and the LGBT agenda part of the platform, etc, being items that DeSantis is opposed to, means that the party may permanently switch to a populist platform, and leave true conservatism behind.
Glad to see his focus is back on Florida and I'm glad to see him cracking down on retail theft, something that all too many states seemingly allow.
Same here, and I hope this indicates that you, and others like you, haven’t permanently written DeSantis off for holding national office in the future, as I feel that Trump and many of his supporters will be attempting to block him for ever holding public office again. To be clear, DeSantis is just a politician at his core, and the fate of the country will never lie in a single politician’s hands, not even Trump. But DeSantis is one of the most principled and conservative ones on record, and if his career is now truly over it will be a shame.
Right. Because if the lawfare worked against Trump, then we would have Haley as our nominee.
You non-conservatives are a laugh.
DeSantis is a true conservative....more than Trump will ever be. It was good for him to get his feet wet on the national level so he can address his shortcomings in presentation, style and oration.
It was good that the conservative movement had a hedge should the communists have been able to derail Trump, who I will happily vote for again, as I did 2 times before.
Reagan challenged a sitting POTUS, Ford. DeSantis ran in an open primary.
Running against Ford did not set Reagan back and running against Trump will not set DeSantis back.
Reagan running showed that the conservative movement is alive and well inside the GOP just as DeSantis shows the conservative movement is alive and well in Florida....and in the US
I truly hope DeSantis runs in 2028 and wins huge. There are no other conservatives with as much of a solid conservative track record (fiscal & social) out there.