Neither Florida Governor Ron DeSantis nor former President Donald Trump announced bids to run for the White House in 2024, but that hasn’t stopped Trumpworld’s most staunch right-wing pundits from choosing their side.
DeSantis, Roger Stone said on a recent podcast, “didn’t have the same traction as Trump.”
“He doesn’t have the presence of Trump,” Stone continued. “He is not self-deprecating. He’s not funny. He’s not entertaining. He’s a bit stiff. It’s a bit boring”
Similarly, Fox News host Dan Bongino remains loyal to the former president.
“He should run again,” Bongino speak Tuesday on his podcast.
Trump’s recent spat with Elon Musk has also created a shield for Trump’s most loyal associates to declare their allegiance to the former president. Bongino specifically mentioned his disagreement with Musk’s assessment that Trump should “Pull up your hat.”
But where Musk’s attacks represent an entertaining sideshow, DeSantis’ donate among the Republicans represented a real threat.
And Trump’s closest and most senior supporters seem to understand the risks.
At this point, most are trying to avoid a real war. Newsmax presenter Greg Kelly urged DeSantis not to get ahead of himself and run for president. Top rated Newsmax star Is called DeSantis is a “career politician” who learned plays from Trump’s plays.
“Obviously he researched President Trump very, very thoroughly. You can see it in this picture at Mar-a-Lago. I mean, they’re very similar and I think DeSantis got a lot of breath from Donald Trump,” Kelly said on her primetime show. “The agenda, the style, it’s all Trump’s.”
Likewise, the anti-Muslim activist Brigitte Gabrielwho has spent most of his Twitter posting pro-Trump messages, recently announced that DeSantis will not be on duty in 2024.
“I love Governor DeSantis and am ready to have him as President in 2028, but we need Trump in 2024,” she said in early July. tweet. “No one else can save the country.”
Other Trumpworld voices that speak to the former president from time to time have also warned DeSantis not to get in Trump’s way.
On Tuesday morning, former Trump advisers Steve Bannon, Boris Epshteyn and Steve Cortes joined the chorus of encouraging DeSantis to avoid running against Trump in a GOP primary.
“Ron DeSantis [has] has a bright future in the Republican Party,” said Epshteyn. “Without a doubt, what the American people want right now… a third [Trump] period.”
Bannon continued that Republicans must turn to Trump’s “broad shoulders” – a term that former Vice President Mike Pence also used. often used to praise Trump — and Cortes asserted that DeSantis “will not be president” in 2024, “assuming that Donald Trump decides to pursue the nomination.”
Cortes said he “strongly” believes DeSantis will one day be president. “But that won’t happen in 2024,” he said.
Other staunch Trump allies have been less diplomatic about their warnings to DeSantis.
Pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood mocked DeSantis as “Ronnie” and claimed that DeSantis turned a blind eye to “rigged elections,” a new insult to the most loyal Republicans. .
“I want to see him [DeSantis] take action to fix 2020, end fraudulent elections and end child sex trafficking,” he told The Daily Beast. “Those goals require serious investigations and prosecutions.”
A spokesperson for DeSantis declined to comment for this story when contacted by The Daily Beast. The Trump campaign did not return a request for comment.
In a recent interview with New Yorkers, Trump said he doesn’t see DeSantis as the president’s primary rival, noting that – as has been his habit recently – that he endorsed DeSantis at a pivotal time in the 2018 Florida presidential primaries. .
“I don’t feel it,” the former president told the outlet. “I endorse Ron, he’s in 3rd place, and as soon as I approve, he’s in first place, he’s not going to win.”
But although much of Trumpworld has targeted DeSantis, some right-wing pundits are jumping ship in support of the Florida governor.
For one, the far-right Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich is official Turn off the Trump Train.
“Trump is surrounded by idiots he hires and Mark Meadows, but that’s superfluous,” he said. tweeted at the end of June. “DeSantis 2024!”
Fox News rising star, Lisa Boothe, who recently attend a big dollar DeSantis fundraiser, which also appears to be backing the governor.
“DeSantis 2024”, she wrote on much occasion on Twitter. “Ron DeSantis is the future of the Republican Party.”
When reached for comment, however, Boothe stressed that “nobody has announced it.”
“Joe Biden is the worst president in the history of our country,” she said. “He should resign in disgrace.”
While right-wing pundits are just beginning to pick their respective GOP presidential candidates, there’s one thing conservative TV and radio talkers agree on: DeSantis is a talent.
There’s no better example of that than the longtime right-wing talk radio host Michael Savagean ardent Trump supporter who recently admit: “DeSantis is almost bulletproof.”
