Jeb! Loves! DeSantis!
Jeb! Loves! DeSantis!
The Swamp endorsement Trump has been waiting for.
1. Endorsements
I’m sure you’ve seen it but in case not:
There’s a lot going on here, but the best part is where Jeb! says DeSantis has shown “that Florida can be a model for our country.” Put a pin in that. We’ll come back to it.
Because first I want to talk about the opening that just appeared for Trump.1
Ron DeSantis is in a pretty strong position. He’s locked up the support of Conservatism Inc. He’s been buying out the grifter class out from underneath Trump. And he’s got the backing of large chunks of the Republican establishment. There’s a lot of electoral power in that triad.
But there’s also a narrative trap.
DeSantis has made his bones by being an enemy of the establishment. That’s easy when the establishment is the mainstream media.
But we’re about to enter an environment where the establishment will be conservative media. And DeSantis is going to be championed by Fox and National Review and all the same people who were into George W. Bush once upon a time.
The Journal will be onboard with DeSantis. Jeb has endorsed him. All we need is for Mitch McConnell to hop on the D-train and we’ll have the entire Swamp Trifecta on his side.
Republican voters have shown over the last 7 years that they like insurgents. Trump’s problem in running for 2024 is that it’s hard to be an insurgent when you’re the former president.
But the entire Republican / conservative establishment congealing around DeSantis solves that problem. It makes DeSantis—who otherwise might be a fresh face—into the establishment behemoth. And it makes Trump into the insurgent fighting to purify the rigged Republican party.
It even gives Trump a story to tell about why his next term would be different from his first. Trump can say: