There’s no doubt the two leaders of the American conservative movement are Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis.
The former POTUS and Florida governor have millions of supporters. They are both known as bold men of action who do what they say.
A recent poll from McLaughlin and Associates puts support for Trump at 53% and support for DeSantis at 23%. Despite being behind, DeSantis is surging and his leadership during COVID, Hurricane Ian, and in immigration has made him a rapidly rising star.
Trump doesn’t like that and now he’s hitting back.
Trump Slams DeSantis for ‘Big Mistake’
There have already been clashes in the past with Trump criticizing DeSantis for not doing more to support the vaccine. Though that was merely implied and didn’t involve Trump calling him out by name or getting extremely specific.
This is next level because Trump has been very clear that he’s talking about DeSantis here. What happened is DeSantis has been backing a Senate candidate who Trump doesn’t like.
This candidate is a man by the name of Joe O’Dea. He’s running in Colorado and is slipping behind his Democrat challenger Michael Bennett. O’Dea is a maverick and he’s not pro-Trump. He’s even said he’ll specifically oppose Trump if he’s the candidate in 2024.
O’Dea just so happens to also be pro-DeSantis and it goes both ways. DeSantis made a robocall on his behalf that Trump finds stupid, tweeting out on Truth Social it’s a “big mistake” to support O’Dea.
JUST IN: Trump responds to DeSantis endorsing O'Dea in Colorado Senate Race
"A big mistake," Trump says. pic.twitter.com/d2wgUqxCxT
— Election Wizard 🇺🇸 (@ElectionWiz) October 24, 2022
What This Means
In the robocall, DeSantis talks about how O’Dea is not part of the establishment’s political circles and is a working-class man who will stand up to both sides.
He presents O’Dea as a contractor and border hawk who wants to cut spending and stand up to corruption. For his part, Trump has come out even more strongly against O’Dea, saying he’s “stupid” and has a “big mouth.”
By backing O’Dea, DeSantis is making a very clear pitch here: he wants to be the non-Trump candidate who gets results and puts America First, but without the entertainer-style personality, gaffes, and ego of Trump.
DeSantis even recently called Dr. Fauci a “dwarf” and said he wanted to throw him across the Potomac River. However, DeSantis also definitely intends to come across as more serious than Trump and more able to withstand the attacks of the left.
Governor DeSantis is a fighter — a true leader — who has brought progress and prosperity to Florida. I’m honored to have his support.
Joe Biden is moving America in the wrong direction.
America is hungry for change. I’ll fight for change. pic.twitter.com/MvVMdUZtXd
— Joe O'Dea (@ODeaForColorado) October 23, 2022
The Bottom Line
Although 2024 is still a long way away, this is just the beginning and the Trump-DeSantis feud is only going to heat up. Could DeSantis settle for a vice president spot in the end? This is certainly possible, but not necessarily likely.
At the end of the day, it looks much more like he’s going for the crown.
This article appeared in Mainstpress and has been published here with permission.
