Not surprisingly, given what a debacle his campaign was, Florida’s “fringe-type”/”kook” (as Rep. Don Beyer’s Deputy Chief of Staff Aaron Fritschner accurately describes him) Governor Ron DeSantis has dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and…yep, of COURSE endorsed Donald Trump, because that’s what ambitious, far-right Republicans do – fall in line. Can’t wait to see what Glenn Youngkin has to say about his role-model governor completely failing; will Youngkin endorse another pal of his, Nikki Haley, or will he skip right to the inevitable and endorse Trump, who literally tried to stage a coup a few miles from Virginia, prompting then-Governor Ralph Northam to send Virginia National Guard troops to help clear the Capitol of the pro-Trump violent insurrectionists. Of course, Youngkin has no core principles, other than whatever brings him money and power, so this will not be surprising, although it WILL be disgusting.
Meanwhile, how about former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, speaking of “fringe”/”kook” types? This guy – the worst AG in Virginia history – really takes the cake, first as a huge Ted Cruz (FAIL!) supporter in 2016, then eventually joining the Trump administration and doing a lot of damage there on immigration policy, then turning on Trump and launching the “NEVER BACK DOWN PAC” in support of DeSantis (spoiler: they very much ended up “backing down,” but not before they blew a huge wad of $$$), and now tweeting about how DeSantis is supposedly a “spectacular servant leader” and the “most successful conservative chief executive (Governor or President) in my lifetime.” What. The. F***???
As for far-right-extremist Rep. Bob Good (R-VA05), it’s not at all surprising that he’s now endorsed Trump, after having basically thrown DeSantis under the bus last week following Trump’s win in the Iowa caucuses, and also given the fact that Good’s insurrectionist opponent, John McGuire, has been pounding Good for having endorsed DeSantis and not the Orange Cult Leader. Plus, of course, the Trump campaign’s manager, Chris “Swift Boat” LaCivita, vowed to destroy Good politically. So Good, not surprisingly, is now scrambling to backtrack – and to save his pathetic political career.
Finally, note that the “mainstream” political media – as well as Rupert Murdoch’s media – massively blew it on DeSantis. See below for some analysis of that by the brilliant Magdi Jacobs, who writes:
“1. The political media was wrong about Ron DeSantis 2. This same media desperately *wanted* a “Smart Authoritarian” vs. Trump narrative. They pushed it relentlessly 3. They then used DeSantis’s supposed “strength” (that they made up) to push “anti-wokeness” on the rest us)”
So just keep in mind at all times that the U.S. political media is absolutely NOT – despite their protestations to the contrary – “objectively” reporting about U.S. politics. To the extreme contrary, they very much are pushing their preferred narratives – such as with DeSantis, or in 2021 and 2022 with the supposed “moderate” Glenn Youngkin – even if those narratives are COMPLETELY FALSE, LAUGHABLE, etc. And no, they will NEVER apologize or explain to readers/listeners/viewers how they got things so badly wrong. Just like in 2016, when “JEB!” was supposed to unstoppable in the Republican primaries, and Trump was supposed to have no chance at the nomination, and…yeah, these people (e.g., Chris Cillizza, Chuck Todd et al) *really* suck at what they do.
With that, what are your thoughts on Ron DeSantis’ exit from the 2024 Republican presidential contest – and his pathetic, disgraceful endorsement of demented, deranged, dictatorial and dangerous Donald Trump?
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
– Winston Churchill pic.twitter.com/ECoR8YeiMm
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 21, 2024
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