Ron DeSantis

NBC News got its hands on audio of one of the most curious calls Ron DeSantis just fielded with 200 close backers of his defunct 2024 campaign.

It’s really hard to figure out what DeSantis was angling for, because at points it appears that he very much wants to be Trump’s running mate while, at the same time, definitively ruling it out: “I’m not doing that,” he says according to ABC News.

Of Trump’s pick of a Veep, DeSantis hammers Trump for a potential “identity politics” pick:

“I would want somebody that…. the people that voted us in would have been pleased to know that they’re going to continue the mission.

I’m not sure sure that those are necessarily going to be the criteria that Donald Trump uses… I have heard that they’re looking more into identity politics. I think that’s a mistake…. Now we have a diverse Republican party. I everybody in the fold, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t want people representing 10%, 15% of the party being in the driver’s seat.”

A fair translation might be: Donald, it’s identity politics if you pick any of the female names you’ve been mentioning or Tim Scott or Byron Donalds etc., who can better speak to that 10-15% you need in a general. Don’t worry about gender or ethnicity. Pick the white dude, let it be two white dudes, and we’re not going to do the diverse thing.

It seems a blatant (but not very smooth) play for Veep.

But then he seems to indicate he’s not interested in being Veep by basically, well, saying he won’t take it.

Of course, we’ve all heard such hedging, but the more convincing “I don’t want to be Veep” moment comes from his trashing Trump at various points in the call, claiming the former prez would only look for yes-men in his administration, and offering up this choice quote where he took on both Trump and conservative media (The two things he desperately needs for a future in the party).

DeSantis:

“I mean, he [Trump] said at some point he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose a vote. Well, I think he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and the conservative media wouldn’t even report on it that it happened.”

Pretty raw. A lot of people might agree with him, but not the ones he needs to agree with him.

Some of have speculated that DeSantis is trying to keep a door open for 2024 by oddly hosting this big call right now, but if he were doing that, why would he insult the presumptive nominee and the conservative media DeSantis would need in the event of mayhem at the convention (e.g., Trump health problems or legal issues).

The call doesn’t make sense, for either DeSantis’ short or long-term prospects in the party.

If you’re going to gather influential backers, you know the audio will be leaked, so why not use it to send some coordinated ambitious message that won’t alienate, but only ingratiate?

DeSantis seemed resigned to the “GOP as Trump” when he abandoned ship before New Hampshire and endorsed Trump. At that point, the conventional wisdom was that he’d settle into “quiet, loyal heir” mode.

But now?

Well, now Trump (who’d just said he was open to DeSantis as a Veep last week) is fuming again, with senior Trump adviser Chris LaCivita calling DeSantis “chicken fingers,” “pudding cups” and a “sad little man” in response to the call.

I’m not sure how DeSantis thinks this call helped, on any score, or with any faction.

Never Trumpers won’t forget that he caved to Trump endlessly in the primary and only came out swinging when all was lost. They certainly don’t trust him.

MAGA, which was starting to make an unsteady peace with him, will once again, be enraged.

And donors who just want a winner will be reminded of why he just didn’t work on a national stage.

DeSantis’ future just got harder. But more interesting.

Final question: Does he, intellectually, know the smartest thing for 2028 is to play the subservient, loyal heir role, and is he just temperamentally incapable of it?

[Photo: Public domain]

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race this week, and promptly endorsed Donald Trump.

Here’s just how shocking but inevitable the train wreck of his candidacy was: DeSantis’ home state Tampa Bay Buccaneers lasted longer this season than the gov.

Now, starting this presidential primary and football season, who would have ever thought Baker Mayfield and Crew would be in the game longer than DeSantis?

I’m not going to state the obvious about his departure (until the end), but instead provide you with a smattering of obits.

Ben Shapiro, a notable backer of DeSantis, reaffirmed his conviction the Gov would have made the best president, but said the writing was on the wall and that it’s time to coalesce around Trump. I was half wondering if Shapiro might take his time to urge the coalesce, but no, even if it’s grudging — it’s still going to be real.

The Guardian’s David Smith remarked that DeSantis banked his campaign on the war on woke, and failed to realize that the pandemic was over and inflation was not (well, even if CPI indicates it’s coming down). And the war on Disney? He talked more about that than the war in Ukraine. Disney was a petty feud, not an intercontinental crisis. The big fuss made DeSantis seem small.

Jim Geraghty at the National Review notes that DeSantis spared himself from (even more) humiliation by dropping out before the Florida primary. Good point. Imagine coming in a distant second in a home state, where you’ve enjoyed a brief fiefdom.

Rolling Stone put together a list of all the times DeSantis evoked cringe (a very common theme to his campaign’s arc and narratives, and very true, and an absolutely fundamental and fatal liability to his candidacy from the start). Margaret Hartmann adds to it.

Over at The Atlantic, Paul Farhi makes a good point: “Fox News Isn’t A Kingmaker: If it were, Ron DeSantis would be the Republican front-runner.” Very true. Shocking to an extent, but not at all to another extent. Did Fox ever think it was powerful enough to take down Trump?

Candace Owens called it “great news” and Megyn Kelly wants him to run in 2028.

As usual, The Dispatch’s Nick Catoggio has the best take, but it’s behind a paywall.

A potential 2028 competitor, Gavin Newsom, said his sparring partner saved his political future by dropping out now.

Business Insider wondered if he ran the worst campaign ever (well, relative to expectations).

If you’re interested in politics, you’ve read all the stuff about why the campaign failed etc.,

2028 Implications: Everything. And this failed attempt at 2024 was something. Something big. DeSantis doesn’t seem to have gained many new fans, unlike other failed primary campaigns in the past. In fact, he lost support. That’s not a good sign for a candidate going forward.

Republicans used to be a get-in-line kind of nominating party. They’re not anymore. John McCain lost to George W. Bush, but won the 2008 nomination. Mitt Romney lost to McCain in 2008 but set himself up as the front runner and nominee in 2012. That’s just not the way it is anymore.

DeSantis is going to struggle to raise money. Both because he failed with so much of it, and because he squandered it, structurally.

Every candidate has his or her moment, and sometimes they can stretch a few cycles. But DeSantis’ moment was so singular to this time.

Chris Christie had a brief window in 2012, and backed away. 2016 was even worse for him and 2020 worse. Scott Walker had a moment after his battle with the unions.

In fact, DeSantis’ failure has often been compared to Scott Walker’s, but Walker wasn’t nearly as well-funded, or universally known as DeSantis. It was never Front Runner vs. Scott Walker. He was just another among the group of impressive candidates in 2016 who were torn to shreds by Trump.

Then there’s this for DeSantis. Having been defeated so thoroughly by Trump, it seems the big question looming over DeSantis 2028 is not what D does, but what Trump does or does not do for DeSantis.

Just as in his state primary campaign for governor, DeSantis’ political future will probably be determined by Trump’s whim. If Trump forgives him, DeSantis can try. If Trump commends him, DeSantis can compete. If Trump endorses him, DeSantis can win.

DeSantis’ future seems more affixed to Trump’s will than any other candidate’s because this was Trump vs. DeSantis, and by failing and then endorsing Trump, DeSantis offered up his political future.

Should she fail, Haley will likely endorse, too. But she’s attacked Trump, head-on, while DeSantis waited for the end, and everyone knew it was the end, so the attacks came from desperation, not strength.

This isn’t to say he can’t win in 2028. It’s merely to say that he probably can’t win unless Trump allows it.

Also, did he become a better candidate during the course of the 2024 season? Doesn’t seem so. Likability, warmth, true engagement. Those were always going to be his true obstacles as a national candidate.