If Ron DeSantis Were Truly America First, This Is How He Would Govern
The First Order Of Business Starts With Backing Donald Trump For President
There has been a recent trend on the Right by some loyalists of Governor Ron DeSantis that would place blame on President Trump and his MAGA base for stoking unnecessary “infighting” within the Republican Party before primary season really gets underway. The argument goes roughly as follows: the Left today poses a far greater threat to the country than anything that might come out of the Right. Ron DeSantis has not yet officially declared his bid for the presidency. Therefore, any attempt to smear DeSantis’s name – or more generally, incite contretemps within the party, particularly in the lead-up to what is already anticipated will go down as one of the most historically fraught primaries in recent history – needlessly erodes the Republican brand, and by extension, emboldens Democratic prospects to retake the White House come 2024.
A corollary to the above argument is the fundamental presumption that Ron DeSantis is cut from the same political cloth as Donald Trump. Perhaps, in certain ways, the DeSantis-variation of MAGA is more “polished” and “managerial” – as opposed to “bombastic” and “showmanlike” – and in that regard, so goes the argument at least, is a better alternative to the original product: “MAGA without the baggage,” if you will.
All the above, however persuasive it might sound, just as readily encounters serious problems when subject to interrogation. It is important to point this out for at least two reasons. The main reason is to debunk the claim that Ron DeSantis can somehow transmit the MAGA baton as effortlessly (and as some critics allege, even better) as his forebear, thus laying the groundwork for a much more formidable and enduring movement, one that could be poised to outlast its progenitor in Trump.
The second reason, which is nearly as important as the first, is to reinvigorate the sensibilities of those partisans of the 45th President, who still believe that only he can bring MAGA to its full potential. The latter reason relies on two important premises. First, Donald Trump is the singular figure on the American political scene today with the skillset to best realize the promises of MAGA. Second, Trump is (in every sense of the word – politically, constitutionally, legally, etc.) entitled to this opportunity given all that he has endured – constant witch-hunts, investigations, baseless litigation, to say nothing of the DOJ and FBI-backed raids and stolen election – all of which, in the aggregate, cannot possibly overcome whatever small reward (if it can be described a reward at all) the presidency offers in return.
The latter argument is not simply one of loyalty, though it is that in part, but also one of expedience: Specifically, the idea that, however much it has encountered obstacles along the way, Donald Trump has done more through his dogged efforts and otherworldly persistence to advance the cause of his movement than anyone else, and it is not even close. This is not simply a sentimental notion, but one of political prudence. Trump comes paired with the infrastructure – the personnel, policy, brand, constituency, and vision – that he and he alone can possibly rework into a meaningful alternative to the agenda offered by the Swamp’s (increasingly intransigent) Uniparty consensus. The tear-it-down alternative advocated by some DeSantis loyalists (known colloquially as "DeSimps"), which would be cataclysmic, would not only risk undoing all the arduously fought for progress made over the past eight years, but more insidiously, catapult the hope of MAGA to the historical dustbin for good. This latter risk cannot be overstated considering the Left’s dominance over virtually every facet of American life today, which supersedes even the scope of its cultural imperium from 2015 when Trump first decided to run for office (it can be easy to forget that when Trump descended the famous escalator in June of 2015, same-sex marriage – let alone, transgender rights – was not even the law of the land yet!).
The preceding argument, which encapsulates two subpoints of the second general principle outlined earlier, is important to recognize because even among Trump’s fiercest supporters, there can be the occasional tendency to slip into the “conventional wisdom” which has animated the movement to anoint Ronald over Donald. That is to say, there is a dominant narrative (though a pure propagandistic ploy) to accept as a matter of received wisdom that Trump’s failures may be attributed not to the real reasons – wholesale corruption and illegitimacy of the electoral process, as but one notable example – but for reasons that would better appease the fragile sensibilities of a Paul Ryan-type and the donor class he represents. Reasons, namely, that would overlook the harsh reality of “American carnage,” the provocative call to arms of Trump’s first inaugural address, for an astroturfed vision of American life. This portrait of America, one based less in reality than in nostalgia (and that nostalgia, more a boomer fever dream of a television-born fantasy, than anything based in reality), but one that at least placates the ever-delicate sensibilities of our ruling class. This ruling class, now rapidly aging, would prefer to slow walk – or outright deny – any responsibility for their manifest incompetence even with one foot in the grave, and instead be told “all is kosher” as cities burn and critical infrastructure crumbles, realities that make American life grislier by the day.
Thus, it is incumbent upon we, the true loyalists of Donald Trump, to eschew the wisdom that would, for instance, prefer to find refuge in politically correct ideations – the sorts of vacant bromides – e.g., “Where Woke Goes to Die” – that might titillate a Christopher Rufo-type, who then proceeds to misdirect swaths of gullible normies (an exercise known as “grifting” in the modern political parlance) into dead-end corners whose purpose, beyond further enriching its chief exponents, remains elusive to those of us on the outside. (As for Rufo specifically, one is loath to ask: what preternatural insights does he possess that makes him a supposed “authority” on education? His attempt to lead an anti-woke “movement” fundamentally misses the forest for the trees for education’s true meaning and purpose, which, when understood in its proper context, would entail the inculcation of classical virtues – a definition that would be immediately recognizable to the ancients. However, it is also one that Mr. Rufo, in his bid to become education tzar of causa DeSanctimonious, seems woefully unable to grasp, let alone effectuate, in any meaningful capacity.)
Rufo is not alone in the kind of grifter who has most readily found himself at home on the so-called “DeSanctimonious bandwagon.” Indeed, the so-called “DeSantis movement” has so far attracted a certain cast of character whose defining feature, echoing the chief qualities of their figurehead, is nearly as mediocre as it is inauthentic. The fundamentally counterfeit nature of the movement poisons the entire vocational well of Team DeSanctimonious, as observed through the quality of its in-house counsel (e.g., Jenna Ellis), resident journalist (e.g., Pedro Gonzalez), bought off comedian (e.g., Seth Dillon) and chief propagandist (e.g., Christina Pushaw).
Further evidence of their inauthenticity is perhaps most immediately on display (as observed by many, though not all) in their turncoat loyalties to the 45th President. Some of them, especially the more reserved types found in the Conservative Media Establishment (a broader category than simply "Con Inc.," inclusive of those "conservative influencers" who made names for themselves originally by riding the coattails of Donald Trump, only to be absent or at best disarmingly reticent at his time of greatest need), insist while in public or within President Trump’s orbit their continuing fealty to him, while plotting, with zeal equaling the amount of support they feign in public, to take him down behind closed doors.
Given the general mediocrity which typifies so many of these personalities, their desire to glom onto Ron DeSantis is animated in many cases by no nobler a reason than rank status chasing or profiteering. Both direct and indirect evidence supports this proposition. The direct evidence of this is seen in these groups’ consistent, concerted focus on institution building and thinking generally in terms of “movements,” whether observed in Christopher Rufo’s efforts to remake education, the Claremont Institute’s bid to ingratiate itself to DeSantis after having been almost singlehandedly rescued from near-oblivion by Trump just a few short years ago, or the Daily Wire’s attempt to frame itself as the newspaper of record (and being handsomely renumerated for that effort) in a would-be DeSantis administration, to name but a few notable examples.
There are two major problems with thinking in terms of institutions, which I have previously addressed at length elsewhere. The main problem is a function of time: as it stands, there are fewer than two years left to go before the 2024 presidential election. To think that the Right might be able to take a page, even on a much-reduced scale, from the Left’s “[l]ong march through the institutions” playbook and effect change by infiltrating any number of public and private bureaucracies in the hopes of rallying a cultural shift is a cause as futile as it is foolhardy. The second problem is that such an approach, lawyerly and bureaucratic in temperament, represents the kind of strategy that remains inseparable from an inherently Leftist frame of reference. And so, the kind of bureaucratic archetype that would be readily inclined to this type of approach (e.g., the Rufo type) – as opposed to the “blunt force” strategy of a craftsman, trade worker, or at its highest formulation, the entrepreneur whose success draws from artisanal – rather than technological or bureaucratic – expertise – is positively not the type of person we need today. This is in part attributable to the fact that so many of our current problems were indeed the very handiwork of this archetype. This is also in part attributable to recognizing that ours is not an era that lends itself well to systematic and movement-oriented thinking – if for no greater reason than lack of time. The latter sort of thinking, which might befit a less chaotic age, must in our age of precipitous and inexorable decline necessarily be subordinated to the kind of politics that only a Donald Trump can offer: scorched-earth disruption, born of practical necessity and concrete problem solving, not heavily theory-laden approaches dependent on pure speculation that would require decades before any hope of real-world effects could potentially materialize, let alone be successfully implemented – time that we simply do not have.
Given just how speculative and far-flung the latter approach is – albeit the preference of DeSantis supporters – one can justifiably be excused, particularly given our present culture’s visceral aversion to low time preference thinking – for attributing the efforts of the Rufo’s and Gonzalez’s of the world to rank grifting rather than, say, a noble, albeit misbegotten, attempt at political renewal through employing “systematic” means. In the very least, the onus should be on them to prove their motives — however ostensibly unjustifiable they might appear to the overwhelming majority of conservatives who still support Trump — are genuinely directed to a well-considered understanding of the common good.
The indirect evidence, observed in the cadence of the attacks by so many of DeSantis’s digital warriors on social media, many of whom have in turn accused Trump’s side of being “paid off,” a spurious (and downright hilarious) claim that is as obviously untrue as it is revelatory in its Freudian projection. The fact that Ron DeSantis’s fiercest digital mouthpieces cannot even fathom supporting Donald Trump for simple love of the man or fealty to the greater cause he represents, demonstrates just how distant Team DeSantis is from the higher Revolutionary virtues – honor, loyalty, justice, prudence – which inspired the Founding Fathers, and whose spirit continues to live on through MAGA. Ron DeSantis, by stark contrast, is the candidate for spiritual transactional types who would never deign to support a cause simply because it is noble and good, and for those "provincial" reasons alone, worth defending. These are the same people who never understood MAGA’s organic roots in the first place – always too consumed by petty and self-interested obsessions to fully grasp the broader historical meaning of Donald Trump’s campaign and presidency. Indeed, being a full-fledged knockoff of Donald Trump, one would not be at fault for asking whether it is even possible for DeSantis to escape the curse of “grifterdom,” which, for reasons beyond even his control, is consummate with his political brand as a perennial counterfeit of the real thing.
As a full-fledged knockoff of Donald Trump, one would not be at fault for asking whether it is even possible for DeSantis to escape the curse of “grifterdom,” which, for reasons beyond even his control, is consummate with his political brand as a perennial counterfeit of the real thing.
It is the latter reason which perhaps in turn accounts for why DeSantis has undertaken a governing strategy that leaves much to be desired (to put it mildly). To date, Ron DeSantis has failed to implement the kind of muscular policies that both (1) recognize the urgency of our political crisis, which requires nothing short of bold, aggressive action to combat the Left’s ever intensifying stranglehold over virtually every American institution of import; and (2) plant the seeds for a broader movement that would not only outlast Ron DeSantis’s remaining term as Florida’s Governor, but moreover, reach beyond Florida’s borders to other “Red-ish” (thank you, Mr. Santos, for the inspiration) states like Georgia, Texas, Virginia, and Ohio. This would result in establishing a template by which Republican governors across the country may draw upon to shore up their legacies while equipping their would-be successors with the necessary toolkit so that they could one day reach even greater heights by expanding the framework now being laid down. The latter point would entail cultivating and elevating a new generation of MAGA firebrands, who might themselves eventually pursue political office, an effort that could be made easier through reliance on the foundations established by the current group of governors to further develop MAGA – and taking to task the Swamp at all levels of government: local, state, and federal – without having to start from scratch each time.
Thus, the great tragedy of the Ron DeSantis administration is that rather than building something truly constructive, whatever political capital has been accumulated over these past five or so years is now being squandered on an internecine conflict that would pit MAGA against its opportunists, potentially derailing the movement for good and empowering the Left to be positioned for uncontested domination over American politics for at least a generation (if not for good). The latter possibility, which would have been quite likely even if DeSantis had tossed his weight behind Trump from day one, almost becomes inevitable should Ron DeSantis and the special interests propping him up decide to wage a full-scale attack against the Donald. Doing so would be fatal: not only would it accomplish the Left’s bidding; it would also plunge what traceable vestiges remain of our enervated Republic into an unavoidable death spiral.
How An American First DeSantis Would Really Govern
On the theme of constructive advice, it is here appropriate to delineate a few policies and programs Ron DeSantis would pursue if his heart were truly aligned with MAGA. First on the list would be to endorse Donald J. Trump emphatically and enthusiastically. By endorsement, this would mean not only voicing support on behalf of the 45th President at the bully pulpit, but furthermore, doing everything possible to mobilize both institutional and grassroots support to make Trump’s reelection, which faces extraordinary odds, easier even by the slightest margin. For starters, Ron DeSantis should be throwing the force of whatever political capital he wields to direct the RNC to not only support candidates who are fiercely loyal to the 45th President, but furthermore, mobilize grassroots action, including voter registration campaigns and lawfare movements, to fight outstanding election integrity issues in not just Florida, but other key battlegrounds across the country.
Ron DeSantis should be throwing the force of whatever political capital he still wields to direct the RNC to not only support candidates who are fiercely loyal to the 45th President, but furthermore, mobilize grassroots action, including voter registration campaigns and lawfare movements, to fight outstanding election integrity issues in not just Florida, but other key battlegrounds across the country.
To date, DeSantis has been fairly successful in registering new voters. As a result of his efforts, which have observed Florida weaponize the arsenal that is DeSantis’s executive post to register hundreds of thousands of new Republican voters, he has managed to not just equalize, but overcome, a formidable incongruity in Florida voter registration that has so long favored Democrats. That DeSantis has managed to accomplish this feat in one term, no less, merits highest compliments – even if some of the vote disparities have gone through a bit of number-fudging. But DeSantis’s feat is all the more impressive, especially considering the patent failure of other Republican governors across the country to achieve results even remotely comparable within such a short period of time. Granted, DeSantis’s voter rolls have been inflated by a number of factors beyond his control, most prominent of these being the great migration of northern retirees flocking to warmer lands down south, in search of a sanctuary to live out their retirement days relatively unmolested by the pervasive decline across the country. That said, in addition to supporting Trump, DeSantis – as part of that support effort – should be making every effort to replicate the kind of success he managed to achieve with voter registration in Florida and extrapolate that success to states like Georgia, Arizona, Texas, Ohio, the Carolinas, and Pennsylvania – states that are poised to be key battlegrounds in future presidential contests.
That DeSantis is not pursuing this coordinated campaign with other red state governors is even more bizarre given his seemingly definite presidential aspirations. Even from the standpoint of rank self-interest, one would expect that getting other states to register Republican voters en masse should be a priority numero uno for the Florida governor, regardless of whether his sights are set on 2024, 2028, or some other far-off date. The fact that he has not done more to advance out-of-state election integrity causes would suggest that DeSantis’s head has not fully grasped the — indeed — calamitous depths of our ongoing political crisis. Specifically, DeSantis has failed to appreciate the rapidly shifting demographics which have worsened demonstrably under the Biden regime, and which by the day potentially close the door for another Republican presidency – Trump, DeSantis, or anyone with an R next to his name for good – given the overwhelming preference of those border crossers – leaving to one side Florida’s anomalous constituency of Miami Cubans – to register and vote decisively for the Democratic Party.
That DeSantis has not done more to advance out-of-state election integrity causes would suggest that his head has not fully grasped the — indeed — calamitous depths of our ongoing political crisis.
Sometimes you will hear the excuse that DeSantis’s formal powers as a state governor restricts him to only Florida voter registration issues, for example, or limits the scope of potential out-of-state outreach, which, whenever a potential option, must nevertheless go through the courts in a long, drawn-out, litigious process. But that philosophy to governance is woefully out of step with the current times, in which political capital may be generated by social media campaigns and other digital outlets that can in turn mobilize soft digital capital to nudge out-of-state actors towards desired outcomes. In short, Ron DeSantis has failed to grasp the lesson of 2016 and the rise of Donald Trump – the tactful weaponization of new media to thwart conventional wisdom and achieve unconventional outcomes. This in part relies on a cult of personality, something that can make resourceful use of a charismatic, larger-than-life personage. These effects are elevated by modern technology like social media that, given its uniquely pervasive and intimate nature, compounds the intensity of the reactions – good and bad – to said personality. This was the secret to Donald Trump’s, a uniquely outsized and larger than life personality, success in 2016 – and remains a potent instrument in his toolkit, further explaining his ongoing effective shadow ban by most traditional networks and social media websites.
DeSantis, for his part, flagrantly lacks Donald Trump’s larger-than-life personality, making difficult his ability to mobilize a digital campaign with the tact and alacrity that came almost second nature to Trump. This again bespeaks the lightning in a bottle quality of 2016’s political moment, which relied heavily on Donald Trump’s exclusive talents to incite intense reactions in the court of public opinion, the byproduct of several factors – some learned, some acquired, some accidental – including a lifetime of working the press, an evolving media climate, and a dosage of natural born talent. Even DeSantis must know deep down that lightning rarely, if ever, strikes twice, and that it is virtually impossible to replicate Trump’s success on that scale, particularly in a head-to-head matchup against the media maestro. That said, however, the powers of our evolving media landscape – now even more decentralized since 2016 due to the credibility erosion of legacy corporate media outfits, paired with the rise of even more new media options, such as Rumble and a now freer (if still imperfect) Twitter with Elon Musk at the helm, creates an ever changing media landscape undoubtedly containing myriad untapped rewards waiting to be unlocked by a precocious politico. For example, if Ron DeSantis were to blast his social media outfits with pointed criticisms against Republican state governors like Brian Kemp and other federal and state lawmakers who signaled their reluctance, either expressly or through inaction, to the all-important issue of election integrity, that digital megaphone could function as a catalyst for pushing the envelope forward on that issue. One should not underestimate, for example, the impact that a Ron DeSantis could have – who, when joining other election integrity stalwarts like Donald Trump, Kari Lake, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Matt Gaetz – in stimulating a sea change of opinion to the recalcitrant Republican establishment consensus. If DeSantis were as persistent on the issue as, for instance, Kari Lake, just think how much his bully pulpit alone would change the barometer of Washington, D.C., and downstream of that, impact the political idiom of the RNC in ways that could affect resource allocation, such as redirecting finances to political candidates who are as passionately committed to the issue.
DeSantis, for his part, flagrantly lacks Donald Trump’s larger-than-life personality, making difficult his ability to mobilize a digital campaign with the tact and alacrity that came almost second nature to Donald Trump.
One should also not underestimate the cultural effect that a spirited DeSantis endorsement on behalf of election integrity could have on the strategies pursued by other Republican governors following his would-be clarion cry, and in particular, Republican governors situated in crucial red or swing states like Ohio and Virginia where the need to fortify our gains – in light of the countervailing woke cultural tsunami that has ravenously engulfed America’s institutions in just over the past half decade alone – obtains the highest level of urgency.
The word — logos — is quite a powerful force in politics – and especially so from the pulpit of a prominent statesman with the cultural cachet that DeSantis has heretofore acquired throughout his governorship. If DeSantis were truly committed to saving this country and reversing some of the potentially insurmountable damage wrought by the Left in just over the past couple of years, he would be making dogged – indeed, radical – efforts to use every single weapon at his disposal, formal and informal, in response to this grave threat. The kinds of unforeseeable effects that such action would trigger, such as igniting similar movements among other Republican lawmakers (to say nothing of pressuring big-monied corporate interests in media and other industries – some of whom are apparently asleep at the wheel with respect to understanding the ongoing crisis) to accede to these selfsame political pressures are of great importance because they embody real issues that matter to huge swaths of the electorate.
The election integrity issue is also important because it helps underscore just how influential a powerful gubernatorial post like DeSantis’s could be (if his head were in the right place) to mobilize powers both official and unofficial, which are concomitant with being the most powerful Republican officeholder in the country. Indeed, the reason DeSantis is America’s most powerful Republican governor is not entirely because he is the chief executive of one of the largest states in the union that in turn boasts one of the largest economies – though it is that in part. Nay, the real reason DeSantis is seen as more powerful than, for example, Texas’ Greg Abbott, whose state resources and population size dwarfs even that of Florida, is because of the incidental “soft power” contingencies that flow downstream from his office. These “contingencies” are largely byproducts not so much of constitutionally enumerated prerogatives, but the attendant, media-created influences that come paired with any public figure of import, who in turn distinguish his post in ways that have real and ascertainable effects on the political calculus of the Republican Party.
If DeSantis were a truly visionary politician – the kind equal to or greater in merit that his most ardent supporters claim he is – he would be utilizing these soft power channels to mobilize national support for election integrity – and other seminal issues. This would be done not only on behalf of Donald Trump, though that would be the immediate focus, but more importantly, on behalf of the American people, whose constitutional form of government necessarily depends on functional election procedures, to state the obvious, as a first-order priority so that government might once again restore some semblance of trust. Alas, DeSantis similarly finds himself “asleep at the wheel,” because his decisive inaction, born either of malice or ineptitude, to so remotely approximate the above guidance, and instead risk throwing away any political cachet that might be put to productive use in a scorched-earth insurrection against the MAGA movement in toto – the only viable interpretation of directly challenging Donald Trump for President – is a tragedy of the highest order. Ron DeSantis either dismisses the claims of deep-seated election corruption, or has become inured to that most pressing concern. In so doing, he has repeated Hamlet’s age-old mistake by allowing ego to cloud judgment, resulting in inevitable tragedy not just for the wrongdoer but for all those innocents swept up in the current of his fatal decision.
Ron DeSantis either dismisses the claims of deep-seated election incompetence, or has become inured to that most pressing concern. In so doing, he has repeated Hamlet’s age-old mistake by allowing ego to cloud judgment, resulting in inevitable tragedy not just for the wrongdoer but for all those innocents swept up in the current of his fatal decision.
DeSantis’s Abject Failure To Treat Donald Trump’s Stolen 2020 Election Seriously
Speaking of Shakespearean themes, the issue of succession is often talked about in politics, particularly when the goal is to sculpt a movement from the marble of a generation defining political moment. But alas, much like election integrity, on this score Ron DeSantis has similarly been found wanting. Much like his failure to support Donald Trump for political office, Ron DeSantis has equally failed to throw his support behind candidates – in both federal and state offices – who have demonstrated themselves to be worthy heirs of the MAGA throne, capable of pushing the envelop further rightward on the same platform that originally catapulted Trump into the Oval Office. And for the purposes of this conversation, this critique even disregards out-of-state candidates, where, aside from a few notable cases such as his support for Lee Zeldin’s New York gubernatorial bid (which, speaking cynically, could just as readily be attributed to wanting to swoon the monied-interests in New York State as it can be to DeSantis’s ideological kinship with Zeldin’s policies), DeSantis’s efforts have been wanting.
If DeSantis were truly on-board with MAGA’s mission statement, he would of course have already been preparing a MAGA bona fide like Matt Gaetz to be his gubernatorial heir apparent. Often, DeSantis’s supporters will insist that he must run for president in 2024, because he risks being “termed out” of the governorship, having already won a second term, and therefore risk political orphanage. That argument is patently unpersuasive – particularly in light of how Florida politics in particular often operates like a revolving door, where the highest caliber politicians frequently switch between congressman to governor to senator – a la Rick Scott – (and then back again!) with impunity. For his part, if Ron DeSantis were truly concerned about his political cachet wearing thin by 2028, when Trump was out of the picture altogether after having completed his second term, he might just as easily consider returning to his own post as congressman or even contemplate a Senate bid, where, after having already served as governor, would immediately be one of the most powerful Republicans in Washington. Beyond that, no politician is doomed to oblivion if he or she remains out of an official post for some time – as Donald Trump, Blake Masters, and Kari Lake exemplify in our times – and as names like Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon bore witness to in previous times, reinvigorating their cachet after spending years in the political wilderness.
If DeSantis were truly on-board with MAGA’s mission statement, he would of course have already been preparing a MAGA bona fide like Matt Gaetz to be his gubernatorial heir apparent.
The issue of succession, however, is not simply a question of preparing one’s own immediate political heir, but moreover, cultivating a broader political ecclesiam quintessentially of one’s own likeness, wherein the prospect of propagating one’s political patrimony becomes an imperative of the highest consideration. This is the hallmark of the generation-defining political talent – this is the Alcibiades or the David who ensures his imprint will be left on his country for generations to come. This would require of the Mosaic figure to elevate personalities who might even succeed the incumbent in talent, and out of humility, raise those individuals so that – in pursuit of the common good – they might further one’s own legacy.
Returning from Sinai to Tallahassee, if Ron DeSantis had, for example, elevated MAGA firebrands like Anthony Sabatini and Laura Loomer with as much gusto as his “DeSimp army” now attacks them surreptitiously behind digital channels, both DeSantis’s own political cause – and the greater MAGA movement – would be better served in the end. One simply cannot conceive why DeSantis would not, rather than challenging Donald Trump, instead refocus his sights on the more “pedestrian,” though equally important issue, of setting up his gubernatorial post for a Matt Gaetz, Anna Paulina Luna, or Byron Donalds-type, while at the same time using the power of his office to thrust the Sabatini’s and Loomer’s, who represent the rising generation that can in turn push the political barometer further rightward, to fill the vacancies left by the former group. If DeSantis had the makings of a genuine statesman, he would be embarking upon this endeavor – and with great spiritedness – having recognized the suicidal trajectory of his beloved country, and subordinate short-term interests for the much greater long-term rewards that naturally arrogate to that rarefied statesman of the highest caliber.
One simply cannot conceive why DeSantis would not, rather than challenging Donald Trump, instead refocus his sights on the more “pedestrian,” though equally important issue, of setting up his gubernatorial post for a Matt Gaetz, Anna Paulina Luna, or Byron Donalds-type, while at the same time using the power of his office to thrust the Sabatini’s and Loomer’s, who represent the rising generation that can in turn push the political barometer further rightward, to fill the vacancies left by the former group.
Separate and apart from strategy and succession, DeSantis should be doing more – regardless of his feelings about Trump – to support MAGA causes – perhaps the most urgent of these being those January 6th victims presently languishing behind bars, having been stripped of their constitutional rights. If DeSantis were serious about MAGA, he would be serious about January 6th because the victims here, having been denied due process of law, embody that most vulnerable component of the electorate he so desires to lead. In this regard, how a presidential candidate treats the “January 6th issue” should be perceived as the ultimate litmus test for his MAGA or America First credentials because how he treats the most vulnerable is a telltale indicator for his commitment – let alone, capacity to fully grasp – the movement. Alas, DeSantis, yet again, leaves much to be desired on this score.
How a presidential candidate treats the “January 6th issue” should be perceived as the ultimate litmus test for his MAGA or America First bona fides because how he treats the most vulnerable is a telltale indicator for his commitment – let alone, capacity to fully grasp – the movement.
To the extent he has voiced support on behalf of the victims, DeSantis’s public utterances have largely fallen on deaf ears, because he has not yet taken decisive action to the extent necessary to prove himself as a true believer. For example, if he sincerely believed in the fundamental unjustness of what is occurring to the J6 victims, he would be helping furnish a political and legal culture in his state that, for example, rewarded competent attorneys who put their careers on the line to provide representation to said victims. Such advocacy might take the form of furnishing the Florida bar to be the antithesis of that in states like New York and California, which have ruthlessly scapegoated attorneys such as Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, who have put their livelihoods – and lives – on the line on behalf of President Trump and his MAGA base. DeSantis might introduce incentive structures that would reward attorneys and law firms that took up controversial causes of the kind taken up by Giuliani and Eastman with respect to President Trump’s election integrity efforts, and Joseph McBride, as but one notable example of an exceptional lawyer, with respect to the J6 advocacy, through pro bono and other programs, possibly aided by state funded grants. He might further introduce legislation to safeguard law firms who take on such controversial causes from attacks by outside, radical Leftist organizations. Doing so would furnish a legal culture to match DeSantis’s professed conservative political bona fides, an effort that would hopefully trigger a chain reaction and create a template for other red states to incorporate and modify as they saw fit.
Even DeSantis’s State Policies — Including Fighting Wokeism — Falls Short Of Expectations
Even on the more banal plane of state politics, DeSantis’s track record, which is consistently touted as one of the most conservative in the country for any Republican governor, is found woefully deficient. This remains true with policies for which the Florida Governor obtains frequent praise on the mainstream conservative media circuit, and which DeSantis in turn has made a point of highlighting in both books and in public speeches.
DeSantis’s failure to deliver meaningful results begins with his highly publicized bill that purported to strip Walt Disney World of its special tax-exempt status, a longstanding policy that dates back fifty years, which was framed as a bold and cutting-edge use of state power against a corporate culture that has gone radically woke. The gambit, criticized even among some of DeSantis’s Republican colleagues for going too far, in fact was far more bluster than bite. The reality is that the legislation did not so much deny Disney its favored status, as it did merely redistribute tax dollars from one geographical area to another. Namely, the broader county on which Disney World proper is located, which remains largely undeveloped, had its tax burden reappropriated to neighboring counties, while the actual land on which the theme park is located retained its status. In effect, the legislation does little if anything consequential to the current operation of “woke” Disney: the minor penalties, as highlighted by conservative critics of the Florida Governor such as Anthony Sabatini and Laura Loomer, amounted to requiring Reedy Creek County, where the resort is located, to elect a new board of directors as well as denying them of an airport.
All told, the land on which the Disney World resort operates – and which in turn was responsible for the spread of “wokeness” in the first place – is still being funded by taxpayer dollars, but those billions of dollars switching from Reedy Creek to adjacent Orange and Osceola counties. So, Walt Disney World still continues to operate with effective immunity to spread wokeism as it pleases. DeSantis, for his part, gets to snag a cheap political victory along the way, much as he did with the Martha’s Vineyard stunt, that similarly did virtually nothing to tackle Florida’s mounting illegal immigration crisis. In fact, both problems may even be worsened by the appearance of political victory afforded by what may more accurately be described as publicity stunts. These “policies,” albeit executed with finesse by Ron DeSantis, a media manipulator extraordinaire, are now being retrofitted for his cadre of multibillion dollar donors, who – like Mr. DeSanctimonious himself – would rather prefer the veneer of culture war victory without the accompanying headaches that naturally attach to any kind of serious policy which attempts to reform the system in a constructive way.
The reality is that DeSantis’s crusade against “Woke Disney” did not so much deny Disney its favored status, as it did merely redistribute tax dollars from one geographical area to another.
On two other culture war issues – abortion and the Second Amendment – Florida’s laws have been similarly found lagging far behind other red states. On the abortion issue, Florida has one of the highest abortion rates in the nation – at a staggering 18.6 per 1,000 women – which is all the more incredible given its elderly population, which surpasses other blue juggernauts like California and Illinois. Indeed, since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Florida has become a go-to hotspot for abortion access. And through lax laws Ron DeSantis has made this process easy: in 2022, Florida’s abortion rate achieved its highest rate in fourteen years – up from 38% just the year prior, a figure supported by its equally staggering number of abortion clinics, which are the third highest in the United States (behind only New York and California). These trends occurred throughout Florida even prior to both Roe and the COVID-19 pandemic: for instance, in 2019, during DeSantis’s first term, abortions spiked in the Sunshine State, even as the total number nationwide declined.
Equally troubling is the Florida GOP-controlled state legislature’s inaction on passing reforms to eliminate the burdensome requirements needed to obtain a concealed carry license for gun ownership. This legislation, sponsored by MAGA firebrands like Anthony Sabatini, would deliver one of DeSantis’s own campaign promises – for constitutional carry. However, the disparity between the campaign trail and results would strongly suggest that DeSantis was disingenuous on the commitment and is using the legislature as a convenient pretext for failing to uphold the Second Amendment statewide. Just like his “battles” against woke Disney, immigration, and abortion, DeSantis here has similarly drawn from his arsenal of manipulation to explain away the lack of meaningful action on this issue.
Just like his “battles” against woke Disney, immigration, and abortion, DeSantis here has similarly drawn from his arsenal of manipulation to explain away the lack of meaningful action on this issue.
Ultimately, DeSantis’s consistent failure to execute meaningful reforms on critical culture war issues adds a whole new meaning to a favorite line of his – “Make America Florida.” The catchphrase’s truer meaning would entail an America laden with empty promises and little policies of substance. It further severely undermines DeSantis’s puffed-up reputation as an expert manager. The greatest of ironies is that for as much flak as Trump receives for his political showmanship, DeSantis, in truth, is the real pantomime, selling the media a bill of goods policy after policy after policy. It is not even as though is an expert at covering his tracks, either – DeSantis has just benefited from a lax state legislature that routinely does his bidding and takes the blame whenever politically expedient to do so. This allows DeSantis to perpetuate the status quo in turn, and mobilize his office to block out would-be challengers to the trenchant establishment – like Sabatini and Loomer – who might meaningfully shake up the system.
How Trump’s Florida Base Should Respond: Require DeSantis To Resign From Governor To Run For POTUS
On the subject of conservative firebrands in Florida state politics, it is appropriate to conclude by mentioning a proposed resolution by several of the aforementioned that would require Ron DeSantis to step down as governor prematurely if he decides to run for president. The opposition to amend the so-called “resign to run law,” which has been heavily promoted by Laura Loomer, would thwart yet another case in which the Florida state legislature has worked to smokescreen Ron DeSantis’s troubling political maneuverings by granting the latter immunity. As it now stands, Ron DeSantis is effectively operating a full-blown “shadow campaign,” itself a scandalously under investigated subject of questionable legality, by weaponizing political operatives like DeSantis’s former press secretary, Christina Pushaw, to run what amounts to a presidential campaign but in name. Pushaw, who is no longer involved with the DeSantis in an official, administrative capacity, has since at least August of last year (though by many reports, has been engaged in this quasi-presidential operation much earlier) been waging a digital crusade, mobilizing in many cases faceless digital actors whose identities are difficult to track and whose legality in turn difficult to pinpoint – due to a combination of both formal and informal campaign affiliates. The whole operation – seemingly a dead giveaway now with DeSantis’s recent book launch – itself is the paradigmatic exhibition of a “looks like a duck, walks like a duck” phenomenon, and is sketchy enough on the surface alone to merit further investigation. However, this need is only heightened considering Pushaw’s own dubious track record as a foreign agent to the country of Georgia, another matter of dubious legality that was likely in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) (and potentially other laws), which only came to light years after the fact – when Pushaw registered while serving in DeSantis’s administration.
In the forgone likelihood that DeSantis does officially toss his hat in the ring for the presidential contest, Mr. DeSanctimonious probably hopes his present quasi-presidential operation of sketchy legality will be brushed under the rug similar to Pushaw’s dealings as a registered foreign agent for disgraced former Georgia president (who had previously been a Ukrainian politician as well, only to be criminally indicted on corruption charges) Mikheil Saakashvili, a close friend of another unsavory character, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Or, perhaps, Mr. DeSanctimonious thinks his state legislature – which is teeming with RINOs continuing the philosophy of Jeb Bush when he was governor of Florida from 1999-2007 – will watch his back by not pursuing any meaningful investigations into DeSantis’s rather creative maneuvers with campaign finance laws, instead choosing to look the other way and silence any voices that might dare raise the issue, or flood social media with disinformation to drown out sources sounding legitimate alarm bells.
Ultimately, Ron DeSanctis deserves the moniker “DeSanctimonious” because his gubernatorial career has been a testcase of mouthing pious bromides for corporate money, only to do a bait and switch against the voters that actually matter by pulling cheap bread-and-circus stunts which fail to do anything significant, and worse, provide a necessary distraction to filibuster any kind of policy that might prove too much a “political liability” for his donor audience. Fortunately, as polls increasingly suggest, more and more voters are seeing the charade that is Ron DeSantis, much as they did call the bluffs of Mitt Romney, John McCain, and Jeb Bush before him. Let us hope Mr. DeSantis wakes up to this reality as well – for the good of both the country and his own future, lest he wishes to be relegated to the same dustbin that Paul Ryan and Chris Christie had gone before him.
Luckily for Ron, the choice for him to make is devastatingly simple: Trump or oblivion.
Paul Ingrassia is a two-time Claremont Fellow: he was the Jack Roth Charitable Foundation John Marshall Fellow for 2022 and a Publius Fellow in 2020. Mr. Ingrassia graduated from Cornell Law School in 2022. His Twitter handle is: @PaulIngrassia.