On Thursday, former President Donald Trump was booked and released, complete with viral mugshot, after turning himself in at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia in response to the 13-count indictment he was hit with earlier this month by Democrat District Attorney Fani Willis.
Though this indictment along with the other three Trump has faced over the last five months is widely viewed in Republican circles as politically motivated election interference, as far as the other GOP presidential campaigns are concerned the show must go on, which is exactly how Ron DeSantis approached a Thursday trip he made to Iowa alongside his family.
The Florida Governor, his wife Casey, and their three kids traveled to Dyersville, Iowa, which is the location of the iconic Field of Dreams and home seen in the classic 1989 movie, which starred Kevin Costner.
During their trip, photos and videos were shared to Twitter, which included some of DeSantis–a former Yale baseball captain–pitching and his kids playing on the field.
Not surprisingly, while DeSantis was there he was asked by a reporter about the “split screen” of him campaigning in Iowa with his family while Trump was getting booked.
“Well, I’m glad I’m at the Field of Dreams. I’m happy to be here,” DeSantis replied, not taking the bait.
Watch:
Because the silly season is definitely upon us, DeSantis making it clear he’s not going to revolve his entire campaign around Donald Trump’s legal battles caused some hurt feelings among MAGA Inc., including former Trump officials like Cliff Sims:
As per the norm, Trump Jr. and others portrayed DeSantis, without evidence, as a puppet being controlled by “establishment never-Trump consultants” and the Bush family:
But DeSantis’ defenders were quick to hit back, with many pointing to what Donald Trump has previously said about Sims:
Others put things in perspective, noting how ridiculous the complaint was, suggesting that DeSantis didn’t owe Trump much in the way of loyalty after how he’d treated him, and opining along the lines of how it really was okay that DeSantis doesn’t spend his every waking moment focusing on Trump:
There was also this one from “TheUnusualSuspect”:
“Trump and his lackeys have called DeSantis every name in the book. Even suggesting he’s a pedo, that his wife faked her cancer and that Ron killed his sister.But Ron is not supposed to take a moment to play a little baseball with his kids on the field of dreams but instead defend Trump.GTFOH you all are giant pieces of Sh*t”
And this one from Twitter user C.A. Britt:
“National mood:Some people are pissed off and highly motivated to vote for TrumpMany more people are pissed off and highly motivated to vote for any Dem opponent against Trump.And Desantis showing us all that there’s a better way.If you want virtue signaling and culture of losing you can fuck right off. I’m done with that shit on both sides.”
My thought on this is that Trump’s Very Online supporters can’t expect everyone, certainly not the GOP presidential candidates, to have this Marjorie Taylor Greene-like 24-7 focus on the Trump indictments.
After all, one can believe that what’s happening to Trump is a witchhunt designed to take down a potential Joe Biden 2024 opponent–something most of the candidates have already acknowledged and condemned–and still understand that those same candidates cannot make their entire candidacies about it when so many voters want to know where they stand on other issues.
Further, from the scattered reports I saw, some of the other candidates who were asked about Trump’s arrest and booking didn’t have much more to say about it than DeSantis did. And yet DeSantis is the one who got the most criticism from MAGA Inc., which just goes to show this was less about being outraged over DeSantis’ actual comments and more about DeSantis’ continued refusal to play by the media’s–and the Trump campaign’s–very one-sided rules when it comes to All Things Trump.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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