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A Republican cold war is brewing between former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as both men jockey for control of the GOP. Trump insulted his one-time ally at a rally shortly after DeSantis cruised to re-election earlier this month. Tension between the two has been growing for months and is likely to get much worse now that Trump has officially declared he’s running for president in 2024. Straight Arrow News contributor Adrienne Lawrence says a Trump-DeSantis war will be messy and nasty, and it will ultimately cost the GOP the White House.
Conservatives are punting on Trump because he’s a loser. Yeah. Donald Trump, the man who…emboldened so many to be openly hate-mongering monsters in our society, now he has too much stank on him to be a legitimate contender for the White House. So said another way, old Donnie is not Neo. He is not the One. He ain’t even Mr. Anderson at this point. By and large, most people on the right, they have no desire whatsoever for Trump to serve another term. He is washed up.
And it seems pretty evident that the GOP is really putting its weight behind Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. And really, why shouldn’t they? The man’s agenda is queerphobic, ethnocentric, sexist and racist. I am sure Ronnie gets excited when there is a white sheet sale at Kohl’s. Let’s be real here. DeSantis has all the qualities Trump possesses, but with more polish and of course, fewer pending investigations which I hear it’s helpful. And even though Trump still appears to poll well in several places, well it only makes sense that conservatives and white evangelicals are all team DeSantis because he is nowhere near as messy as 45.
But with the right shift in support, it’s gonna get really messy with 45. Donald Trump will not respond well and he hasn’t been responding well to not being the GOP’s beloved golden boy. The man lives and breathes this delusion of grandeur, a self-made sense of deification. He’s got the intellect what, of a potato yet the ego of a god. Trump will not stand down to DeSantis. And I hope he doesn’t.
Because if DeSantis what, takes the GOP ticket for the Republicans in 2024, Trump’s ego would be so bruised that I foresee him trying to stay in the race or even running on an independent ticket, thereby splitting the Republican vote and giving Dems the easy win. So you know, some would like to think that no sane politician would do anything like that, knowing that their party would suffer. But they forget that we’re not dealing with the same politician. We’re dealing with Trump, who would do this knowing his party would suffer.
Trump is a master retaliator whomever fails to bend the knee, breaks loyalty, well, they pay the price. And for years now we’ve watched him exact his vengeance on those who turn their backs on him. Now what makes you think that he’d not do the same thing to his entire party for not uplifting him?