Ron DeSantis – both man and myth – is unraveling before our very eyes
As the old saw by Horace goes, “[y]ou can drive out Nature with a pitchfork, but she keeps on coming back."
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As Ron DeSantis’ sad excuse for a “shadow campaign” continues to be sabotaged by a litany of mostly self-inflicted setbacks and legal controversies – which, among other things, is reflected in cratering poll numbers (and betting odds), an embarrassingly small number of endorsements, lack of general media interest, and utterly horrendous visuals – there is a creeping sense of dread that has set in on the entire operation. Alas, at this stage, it appears DeSantis himself is committed to going all the way through on his plans, as demonstrated by his pathetic attempt at competing with the big dog in hosting a “picnic” in Iowa concurrently with Trump’s rally that was unfortunately postponed due to tornado storms.
DeSantis has probably gauged that he has dug himself into too deep a hole to radically course correct at this point, particularly given all the corporate money at stake, and endorsements (albeit relatively few in number, and mostly from utter political unknowns) on the line, that have forced him upon this irreversible tailspin.
The embarrassment that was DeSantis’ “Iowa picnic” came just days after damning video footage leaked from 2018 of then-congressman DeSantis being coached for his gubernatorial debate by Matt Gaetz and Byron Donalds. The footage was absolutely humiliating for DeSantis — a man already widely caricatured by the press for being inauthentic — who on video appeared struggling to figure out how to distinguish himself from the then-sitting President.
This has been a running theme ever since the rumor-mill began about DeSantis waging a presidential bid for 2024: ultimately, why, when given the choice between a generational political talent in Donald Trump, and a cheap knockoff in Ron DeSantis, would voters choose the latter? The only reason people pay to see Elvis impersonators or Beatles tribute bands is because the real acts are no longer available. Fortunately, in our times, Donald Trump is still a viable option – and, arguably, this time around, he is stronger and better on every front: from messaging, to platform, to overall strategy.
The second reason the footage looked quite bad for DeSantis was because the two people coaching him in the video – Gaetz and Donalds, who would subsequently become very successful, high-profile Florida congressmen in their own right, wound up both endorsing Donald Trump for President. This fact underscores deeper problems the DeSantis campaign has had in generating support – not just from the grassroots, where it has always been absent – but from Republican lawmakers in general, all of whose major players are still deeply indebted to Donald Trump. The fact that DeSantis has felt pressure to continue apace, knowing that he is bloodletting institutional support by the day now, signals the perilous, indeed suicidal, professional trajectory on which he has embarked: he must have gauged that if he backs out now and supports Trump now, the damage has already been done. To add insult to injury on that point, there have already been many reports of Trump (rightly) not wanting to hire anyone affiliated with Team DeSantis to work on his campaign and future administration.
On the other hand, if DeSantis made an about-face at this late stage, not only would doing so telegraph indecision, and by extension, weakness of the highest order, but it would further deepen the perception in the public consciousness that he is inauthentic: a mere empty vessel to be filled by corporate-funded special interests.
It would appear that, given all the roadblocks that DeSantis’ shadow campaign of extremely dubious legality has dealt with over the past several months, the one ironclad constant that has so far typified the DeSantis movement is Murphy’s Law: whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. That is not anyone’s idea of a good start to a presidential run – even if DeSantis formally declares still and forges onward, the fact that he has already contributed to so much intraparty division – which has alienated the largest faction of the Republican Party base: namely the MAGA faction – is likely damage that would be irreversible should he – per impossibile – secure his party’s nomination.
As it stands, Ron DeSantis has already had an ethics complaint lodged against his campaign for running in contravention of both state and federal law. He has spent more time out of Florida – even touring Japan and Israel on the international circuit – while the state was hit by biblical flash flooding and an unprecedented illegal alien hiring crisis, expecting his constituents to believe the bogus lie that all his travels were merely done to promote his book. Meanwhile, “Resign to Run,” the colloquial name for the Florida law that requires would-be presidential candidates to resign from their state offices before formally declaring, puts him squarely in violation of state election law.
The fact that DeSantis has decided to run all but on paper does not make his shadow campaign any less a violation of state law. And that aside, DeSantis is likewise testing the legal limits of both the FEC and FTC’s federal election guidelines, which designates an official campaign de facto if that candidate, rather than just “testing the waters,” checks enough boxes to qualify for running a presidential campaign. Among the factors that would qualify a presidential campaign under the FEC include: (i) rais[ing] more money than what is reasonably needed to test the waters or funds to be used after candidacy is established;” (ii) informing the media (either directly or through an advisor) that they will announce their candidacy on a certain date; (iii) conduct activities over a protracted period of time or shortly before the election; or (iv) take action to qualify for the ballot.
On this balance-of-factors test, DeSantis would seem to decisively weigh in favor of officially qualifying to run for president. In a just system, if it were not for the never-ending excuses and coverup made on his behalf by the Republican-controlled Florida state-legislature, DeSantis would have been forced to resign from his gubernatorial post the minute he launched his “book tour.”
But it is not just violating the law where DeSantis has encountered problems. Indeed, to date, his campaign has been a victim of extremely poor timing. It is one thing to dare challenge the most popular Republican President in at least a generation, it is another thing entirely to go up against the man who, in the eyes of tens of millions, was unconstitutionally denied his opportunity for a second term because of a rigged presidential election. This act strongly implies that DeSantis believes the 2020 election was not illegitimate, a fact that is underscored by his inability to take a public stance on this issue one way or the other.
As such, Ron DeSantis, despite attempting to run as “Trump without the baggage,” has simultaneously toed-the-line of the Republican establishment, doing everything in his power to court major institutional donors and Trump-reticent mainstream conservative media outfits like Fox News, while also trying to sell the idea that he is a “populist.” The people, however, have seen this for the charade it is, which is why DeSantis’ prospects have all but vanished. Even in terms of timing, Ron DeSantis has been mired by misfortunate: he chose to align himself with Fox News just as the network was undergoing a process of delegitimization in the eyes of millions of once loyal viewers – the final nail in the coffin being Tucker Carlson’s abrupt firing for committing the crime of wrongthink in the eyes of the Murdoch family, and their friends among New York’s liberal elite.
The bad timing has even spilled over into DeSantis’ governing: in recent weeks, DeSantis signed into law a sweeping e-verify bill that requires medium to large employers to verify the citizenship of all hires, a clear knock against the Biden administration’s wholesale failure to control this country’s borders. Though the legislation is no doubt welcome, in light of how bad the border crisis has gotten (as well as the mostly performative treatment with which DeSantis has handled illegal immigration to date), the fact that it came so late into his term as governor – as well as the bad optics surrounding it, with upwards of one million construction workers being thrown out of work overnight as a direct result of the legislation – reflects quite poorly on DeSantis’ ability to handle a crisis situation.
The DeSantis operation has also repeatedly stumbled over missed opportunities: one notable recent example being his silence or, at best, mealymouthed responses, to high-profile political hit-jobs by rogue, Soros-funded District Attorneys – the most prominent case of these being the witch hunt against Donald Trump by Alvin Bragg in New York. DeSantis’ failure to respond decisively to the Bragg indictment, as clear a politically-motivated prosecution as there can possibly be, by doing something to the effect of stating unreservedly that he would not cooperate with an extradition request, for instance, or offer asylum to Trump – or anyone – targeted by the deep state (read: January 6th victims) proves that DeSantis is patently ill-prepared for the highest office of the land.
If DeSantis had held a press conference to say that he would not cooperate with an extradition request for American patriots like Daniel Penny or Douglass Mackey, both of whom are now staring down lengthy prison sentences for the crime of exercising their constitutional rights, it would have spoken volumes to his leadership bonafides. It would not matter, again, whether these gestures are legally enforceable in the technical sense. What matters, conversely, is the symbolic significance of the action – much as the Emancipation Proclamation was largely a symbolic, rather than legal, gesture. This opportunity is now available to every red state governor, including the red state governor with the largest following in Ron DeSantis. If DeSantis had the political instincts of a top-flight leader, he would have long ago defended the victims of a justice system now totally in thrall to an out-and-out communist agenda: his deafening silence on that score is the ultimate telltale of how much he is truly willing to put on the line for the cause of freedom.
Beyond that, on the policy front, the original narrative that DeSantis has always been an anti-woke firebrand, particularly on the vaccine mandates and lockdowns, is quickly unraveling as new and damning revelations emerge. One such revelation is the fact that it was Ron DeSantis who tapped now-Democratic congressman, Jared Moskowitz, to oversee Florida’s vaccine rollout. Moskowitz was one of the most zealous enthusiasts in the state of Florida for masks and vaccines – despite DeSantis’ futile attempt now to pivot as an anti-covid warrior. And yet, at the time DeSantis tapped Moskowitz, DeSantis could not stop praising him, saying “He’s worked incredibly hard. He’s done a fantastic job,” as well as “I just think the fact that it’s been two years, he’s worked really hard, and his family is a world away in some respects.”
For a man who has framed his entire public career around the slogan – “where woke goes to die” – reality portrays a starkly different image. From his management of illegal workers to the revisionism applied to DeSantis’ handling of the pandemic, the facts seem much closer to “where woke goes to thrive.” Ron DeSantis has so far profited off an uncanny ability of image making and creating illusions – but DeSantis, the politician, is every bit as inauthentic as the PR stunts and fake press, to say nothing of his phony shadow campaign, that have so far catapulted his political career.
But as the old saying by Horace goes, “[y]ou can drive out Nature with a pitchfork, but she keeps on coming back,” a lesson that DeSantis appears poised to learn the hard way should he go through with his presidential campaign, which cannot hide from the light of truth forever – the inevitably of Donald J. Trump – no matter how much he and his surrogates might think otherwise.
Paul Ingrassia is an Associate Attorney at The McBride Law Firm, PLLC. He graduated from Cornell Law School in 2022 and is a member of the New York Young Republican Club. He was also a two-time Claremont Fellow. His Twitter handle is: @PaulIngrassia.