As has often been said, you can tell which Republican the mainstream media and Democrats are most fearful of based on how much time they spend trying to paint them as the next Donald Trump.
In Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ case, a considerable amount of time has been spent by The Usual Suspects over the last year or so portraying DeSantis as either just as “bad” as the former president or “worse” – so much worse that illegal immigrants, Latinos in general, the LGBTQ community, women, and “woke” leftists among others should be afraid, very very afraid, of what could happen should DeSantis run and be able to go the distance against the Democratic nominee (whoever that may be) in 2024.
Throughout what I call “Thanksgiving week,” the media and panicked leftists continued to do their thing against DeSantis after a growing number of polls have shown him being very competitive against Trump and, in some cases besting him in hypothetical primary match-ups.
Self-described “pro-democracy opinion writer” Jennifer Rubin was among many making ominous comparisons between Trump and DeSantis, though in her case, she tempered it by suggesting that DeSantis was just as “dangerous” as Trump but not necessarily worse:
From her column:
If you believe Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis would be a less dangerous presidential candidate than former president Donald Trump, take a moment to consider the recent ruling striking down DeSantis’s “Stop WOKE Act.” That opinion — as well as other rulings against his attempts to inhibit dissent — makes clear that DeSantis is just as willing as Trump to embrace the GOP’s authoritarian element and use state power to punish his enemies.
Mike Scrafton, a former Aussie government official, sounded off on DeSantis as well in a piece that contained the headline “DeSantis’ ideology is clearer, darker and more coherent than Trump’s”:
DeSantis would likely deliver the next staggering blow to liberal democracy in America. He has made his ideology unambiguously clear, and it is darker and more coherent than Trump’s. America’s allies would be well served to monitor closely the political tides as the 2024 presidential election approaches.Trump’s defeat in 2020 made his tenure appear to be an aberration and Biden’s election a welcome return to normality. However, America’s allies would be well served to monitor closely the political tides as the 2024 presidential election approaches. Far more formidable illiberal forces are emerging.Although Trump might seem difficult to displace as front runner for 2024, Rick DeSantis’ chances have been greatly strengthened in the midterms. Realistically, to prevail in the primary DeSantis would have to sway the MAGA constituency by, at a minimum, demonstrating some empathy with the election deniers and deep state conspiracy theorists. He would need to give at least a nod toward the christian nationalists and isolationists, and a tilt toward anti-multilateralist foreign policies.
The “DeSantis’ record toward LGBTQ people is worse than Trump’s” drumbeat is also sounding sporadically in columns:
Pam Keith, a thrice-failed Democratic candidate for Congress from Florida who actually makes AOC look sane, was among several Very Online Leftists or Republican sell-outs who had similar hot takes:
The critical thing to remember here is that the Republican getting all the negative press attention over a potential 2024 run could be media darling Mitt Romney and he would be getting the same exact treatment as DeSantis, as we saw in 2012. Because if there’s anything that so-called “journalists” and the left are consistent about, it’s insanely predictable in their dooming and glooming about how the next possible Republican president will lead us back to the dark ages or whatever.
In other words, take their tiresome rhetoric for what it is – all sound and fury, signifying absolutely nothing.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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