Tea leave readers continue to anticipate a showdown for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination between Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump and, while only the latter has declared, Never Trumpers seem just as keen at promoting a Never DeSantis message as an MSNBC host argued his reelection landslide was only a result of gerrymandering.
(Video: MSNBC)
As Vote Latino President María Teresa Kumar filled in as host of the MSNBC program “Velshi” on Saturday, she spoke with senior advisor for The Lincoln Project and former Republican Tara Setmayer about the viability of DeSantis in a nationwide contest. Seemingly determined to ground his plane before it ever taxis out to the runway, Kumar set the table to detract America’s Governor as a discount version of the 45th president.
“Is Ron DeSantis Trump 2.0? And a lot of people are asking this question,” she claimed before talking down his nearly 20-point victory over former Rep. Charlie Crist (D), “but one of the things that has been underreported is the fact that Ron DeSantis, yes, he won, but he highly gerrymandered the state of Florida and oftentimes, people say, ‘well, that was, you know, he had a statewide office.’ But gerrymandering has the impact of chilling potential voters for the opposite side of going out and voting. There’s no way that he could gerrymander himself across 50 states, so what would be his pathway?”
Setmayer further dumped on DeSantis’ political prowess by arguing, “Well, he also can’t gerrymander himself political charisma or retail politics either.”
“You said it!” Kumar emphatically added.
This narrative had been immediately picked up by MSNBC after DeSantis was announced the clear winner in the election, leading many to point out the obvious that a statewide race can’t be gerrymandered, which seemingly invoked the effort to course correct the matter as a form of supposed voter suppression.
“Yes, gerrymandering was an issue,” Setmayer stated matter-of-factly. “It was also an issue in New York for the Democrats. It’s something that I think is part of our electoral reforms we need to look at moving forward, to help open up the system that seems to be a danger to the system, that encouraged more extreme candidates in some places. But that’s a whole different set of issues, talking about gerrymandering and primary reform, but something that should be on the table.”
Meanwhile, after posting one poll that showed DeSantis had greater favorability as the 2024 presidential nominee with many still undecided, the Lincoln Project hack attempted to characterize the governor as nothing more than a shoddy mimic of Trump.
“Well obviously, they haven’t seen Ron DeSantis outside of Florida. He was a seat congressman that no one really knew before Donald Trump propped him up. And you see that Ron DeSantis has begun to fashion himself in the image and likeness of Trump, even to the way that–his mannerisms and everything. And it’s so transparent,” Setmayer claimed. “When he gets on the ground in New Hampshire and Iowa, people are going to see that this guy doesn’t have it…Donald Trump’s political gravity-defying tactics do not apply to everyone else. So, it’s going to be a rude awakening for folks who think Ron DeSantis is the Republican savior.”
Not only did DeSantis dominate in his reelection, but the Republican Party of Florida also set records in registering voters, outpacing the Democrats at unseen levels in the state turning it squarely from a swing state to a red state. No matter DeSantis’ decision about his political future, so long as he continues leading, and he has RINOS and turncoats who are the ones most likely in for a “rude awakening.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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