As we’ve noted before, the mainstream media are pulling out all the stops to doom and gloom Ron DeSantis’ chances at winning the GOP 2024 presidential nomination before he’s even officially declared his candidacy.
One of the predictable ways they’ve been doing this is by trotting out “Republican” Never Trumpers and anti-DeSantis types like the sellouts at The Lincoln Project, laughably (and dishonestly) reporting that they were hoping DeSantis would be a credible challenger to former President Donald Trump but noting their “hopes were waning” on the possibility of it happening.
Leading the way among those in the MSM’s “DeSantis should hang it up” chorus has been Politico, which has published near-daily articles for weeks now suggesting that DeSantis’ chances of running a strong presidential campaign (should he declare his intentions) are weakening by the minute because, among other things, high-dollar donors are allegedly having second thoughts in the midst of the Disney lawsuit and DeSantis’ focus on insuring Florida’s public schools provide safe, unwoke learning environments for children.
For instance, here’s a purportedly “straight news” article Politico published on Monday in which they alleged Wall Street was souring on DeSantis. Check out the framing (emphasis mine):
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had been seen as the top pick to lock down the support of financial titans who have already pumped millions into his state campaigns.But as he stumbles through gaffes over everything from his personal demeanor and stance on Ukraine to his snacking habits, Wall Street donors are keeping the door open to his competitors, according to more than a dozen bankers, attorneys and political consultants interviewed for this story.[…]His escalation of a feud with the Walt Disney Co. over its opposition to what critics called the “don’t say gay” law has made for a rocky rollout to an expected presidential campaign announcement in the coming weeks.
“Stumbles through gaffes” over his “personal demeanor” and “snacking habits”? Are they serious with this stuff?
Here’s another one from last week which latched on to “Trump critics” who nevertheless were praising Trump for allegedly “running circles” around DeSantis’ as-yet-to-be-announced campaign:
Despite the legal turmoil surrounding him, Trump has been methodically undercutting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — snatching up congressional endorsements, blasting attack ads and dominating news cycles. It’s a campaign operation characterized by an unusual level of organization and discipline — one that’s chipping away at his likely chief rival before he even jumps in the race.[…]Trump’s onslaught has been disorienting for the nascent DeSantis operation. The Florida governor, who’s expected to announce his candidacy in the coming weeks, plans to make the case that he will counter Trump’s circus with a sense of normalcy that positions him to do what many Republicans fear Trump cannot: Defeat President Joe Biden. But that argument is running head first into the tidy — and muscular — organization the former president is putting together.
And here was Politico today, gushing over Trump’s supposed media prowess as he pivots “toward a broader, general election media strategy” while the rest of the field including DeSantis was “stuck in primary mode”:
But what the prime-time event will lay bare is something far more consequential for the presidential primary: Trump is fast-forwarding toward a broader, general election media strategy, while some of his rivals are stuck in primary mode.Long before the first nominating contests, Trump is already wooing the traditional press — inviting all three of the major TV networks and a phalanx of print and digital outlets to tag along with him to events on his Boeing 757, regaling reporters in mini-press conferences and courting Millennial audiences with YouTubers. All this, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and much of the rest of the trailing pack hunkers down in conservative media, sidesteps interviews and freezes out beat reporters.
And just yesterday, Politico seemed impressed with how “Trump world” was leaning in on DeSantis’ donors, writing that a memo sent to prospective donors was “also notable in another respect: underscoring that Team Trump isn’t content to rest on its current lead but eager to keep attacking its main competitors.”
Those last two especially are pretty astonishing “reports” considering how Politico was among the many media outlets during Trump’s four years in office declaring what a threat to democracy he was due to the contentious relationship he and the White House press corps had with each other.
To reiterate a point I’ve made before, the media always tells you who they want and don’t want on the Republican side by trashing the ones they’re scared of and either lavishing praise on the ones they do or simply leaving them alone to do their thing. It happened in 2016 when they trashed Trump and rooted for an anyone-but-Trump nominee while at the same time trying to elevate former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to that position. And it’s happening now with DeSantis being their bad guy and Trump allegedly being the savviest candidate of them all and maybe the one worthy of the nomination (in their eyes) before the first primary debate is even held.
These are all things to keep in mind in the weeks and months ahead as the GOP field continues to take shape and the participants jockey for position. While most Republican voters are on to the media’s routine election machinations, there are still many who rely on the narratives the press craft to help them form their opinions.
That’s unfortunate, but that reality is in part why we do what we do to get the word out to let people know not to fall for their games. Instead, they should let the process play out and the candidates present themselves for judging before the electorate directly.
In other words, they should ignore the media noise machine and do their own homework on the candidates. Because in my opinion, this country would be a much better place if that was the rule for American voters instead of the exception.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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