Posted on 09/28/2023 7:30:06 PM PDT by Drew68
For reasons mysterious to the rational human mind, Fox News and the Republican National Committee decided to subject Americans to the most bizarre public spectacle in recent memory. It was stupid. It was strange. It was the second Republican presidential primary debate, which began with British-American Stuart Varney having a seizure while attempting to introduce his Univision cohost Ilia Calderón and concluded with Dana Perino asking the contestants who should be “voted off the island.”
“Leading the charge, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dismissed the question outright,” The Independent reported. “I’m not going to do that, with all due respect, we’re here, we’re happy to debate, I think that that’s disrespectful to my fellow competitors,” he said.
It was a strong moment for DeSantis in a night otherwise filled with buffoonery, enabled by inept moderators who seemed to have it out for him and fueled by obnoxious, often shrill candidates. Yet as absurd as the evening was, it also marked the first time DeSantis took a more aggressive approach toward tackling the GOP frontrunner, former President Donald Trump. It was a good start, and the governor will have to do a lot more of it over the next few months.
But first, it’s worth noting how bad a night The Donald had.
The former president had intended to join striking United Auto Workers in Michigan on the picket line in an attempt to keep alive his populist myth. However, as soon as he caught wind of the planned visit, the head of the union denounced Trump as a fraud with an imaginary record of achievements for workers. So instead of hitting the picket line, Trump slinked to a non-unionized auto parts supplier, where his team reportedly distributed union signs to random people.
Trump’s team presented the event on social media as if Trump was speaking to a large crowd filled with union workers. In reality, it was a Potemkin village of populism that failed to draw the desired viewership.
Newsweek reported that the debate, broadcasted on the GOP’s official Rumble channel, received 1.25 million views versus the 522,000 Trump’s speech attracted, which was shared on his official channel. Trump’s channel has 2 million followers; the GOP has just over 46,000 followers.
Meanwhile, at the debate, DeSantis hammered the absentee former president. In the lead-up to the event, DeSantis swiped at Trump during an interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News for a number of failures, including his failure to build the wall.
He kept up his criticisms at the debate.
Trump, he said, “should be on this stage tonight. He owes it to you to defend his record, where they added $7.8 trillion to the debt that set the stage for the inflation that we have now.”
He also hit Trump for throwing the pro-life crowd under the bus.
After the 2022 midterm elections, which saw several losses by awful Trump-endorsed candidates, Trump blamed the disappointing results on pro-life Republicans. Later, in an interview with The National Pulse, Trump suggested that pro-life activists are grifters. “Everybody’s raising money all the time—I don’t know, maybe it’s some kind of business. I don’t know what’s going on,” he said.
Those comments were deeply ironic from a man who allegedly inflated his wealth by billions of dollars to scam banks before ripping off Republican voters for hundreds of millions. DeSantis made it a point to remind the audience he shouldn’t be let off the hook for that.
Trump, he said, “should be here explaining his comments, to try to say that pro-life protections are somehow a terrible thing. I want him to look into the eyes and tell people who have been fighting this fight for a long time.”
DeSantis continued that line of attack after the debate, mocking the former president for refusing to face him.
“He’s had a lot to say about me on social media, really since 2022 right before the midterm election,” DeSantis said of Trump. “It’s one thing to do it behind a keyboard, step up on stage and do it to my face. I’m ready for it.” He even suggested Trump is afraid of going toe-to-toe after losing the first debate to then-candidate Joe Biden in 2020.
Nearly 1 in 3 potential GOP primary voters watched the event, with most of them awarding the first place to DeSantis, according to a 538/Washington Post/Ipsos poll.
Some swiftly dismissed the results, insisting that it would not do much to change the overall race. Trump himself was apparently more concerned. He attacked the Republican National Committee afterward, demanding Republicans immediately “stop the debates.” That also follows polling showing most Iowa and New Hampshire voters aren’t sold on Trump and are still looking elsewhere.
Trump’s comments, state polling, and disastrous efforts at counterprogramming suggest people might be missing the real takeaway: DeSantis took some of his most direct jabs at Trump and walked away looking good.
He did it by merely forcefully reciting the facts about Trump’s record. And if DeSantis wants to chip away at Trump’s support, it seems like that’s what he will have to do for the next few months: expose Trump as a fraud and a failure by attacking him based on his actual record. In particular on immigration and economic issues, where Trump seems strongest.
But that strength is as illusory as the union event in Michigan, the border wall Trump promised to build, and the auto assembly plants he vowed to bring back to America. Most Republicans, moreover, have never been exposed to Trump’s real record because conservative media has coddled him. Last night suggested there’s an appetite for the hard truth.
What doesn’t nowadays?
Carrying Biden’s water for him. Yeah, great look.
This is written by a 26 year old desantis flunkie. Don’t expect accuracy.
Reagan? The amnesty guy?
Well, OK then....
You wish.
Almost nothing of the actual substance of his speech cut through. That nutty UAW president embraced that drooling half-half-wit Biden on the picket line and spent all Wednesday trashing Trump.
And you know this, how?
“Individual states and local governments shut things down.”
Because Trump paid for it with billions upon billions upon billions of borrowed money. And yes, it did kick off the inflation we’re seeing today. Biden made it worse, but Trump started it.
Best reply of the day!
Trump won the so called debate, FOX lost, and the participants all came out even ad nobody noticed.
Why? Because to win the Presidency, if it is close, you almost have to win Michigan. As of this moment, Trump is a disaster in Michigan.
“DeSantis has nothing to lose at this point so he might as well tell the truth.”
Doesn’t that contradict your often proclaimed message that DeSantis would win easilyz?
However, DeSantis finished himself off when he rescued Biden from blame on inflation. DeSantis showed himself to be stupid.
“DeSantis made a campaign ad for Pedo Joe based on a huge lie.”
Here in Louisiana, during the runoff, the incumbent democrat governor merely ran videos of what the Republicans accused each other of.
And Dan Bongino claims that primaries make candidates stronger.
Does Bongino say that DeSantis made Trump stronger by shielding Biden from blame for inflation, which he richly deserves?
Why? Because to win the Presidency, if it is close, you almost have to win Michigan. As of this moment, Trump is a disaster in Michigan.
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The whole GOP has been a disaster in Presidential Elections in Michigan.
Since 1988 the Republicans have one win, which was a squeaker in 2016.
HAHAHAHAAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
GDP was growing faster than inflation under Trump. Biden and the GOP UniParty printed trillions for “Build Back Better” and also artificially raised enrgy prices to get to today. Ridiculous argument by you.
It’s the odor, comes through the screen prior to the end of the post.
The lies of the DeSantis faction seem to go hand-in-hand with the lies spread of those in favor of continued support of the Ukraine money-laundering ruse.
Flat-out lying about local and state Covid shutdowns originating at the federal level is the sign of an unserious person.
I can’t believe FR would allow a positive DeSantis post
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