FILE – Incumbent Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, his wife Casey and their children on stage after speaking to supporters at an election night party after winning his race for reelection in Tampa, Fla., Nov. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File) Rebecca Blackwell/AP
Enter DeSantis
Washington Examiner May 26, 06:01 AM May 26, 12:01 AM Video Embed
Announcing a presidential campaign through a glitchy, glorified online conference call was an interesting choice, but even if it was the wrong one, it is good that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has declared his intention to secure the 2024 Republican nomination.
During his Twitter Spaces event with Elon Musk, and in later interviews with other journalists, DeSantis brought freshness to the Republican primary as a candidate willing to challenge former President Donald Trump on substantive policy grounds.
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When asked where they disagree with Trump on the issues, already announced candidates Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) have both declined to identify any substantive policy differences. Not that there isn’t a contrast between Scott and Haley and Trump. For one thing, neither Scott nor Haley has a history of refusing to acknowledge electoral defeats or backing losing candidates in key swing state races.
But DeSantis went a step further on Wednesday, drawing a stark contrast between himself and Trump on key Republican primary issues including immigration, spending, COVID-19, and abortion.
On immigration, DeSantis acknowledged that Trump attacked him for opposing Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s (R-VA) 2018 legislation, which DeSantis called “an amnesty bill.” The legislation included money for Trump’s border wall but, according to DeSantis, “if you remember that bill was like a pittance for that in exchange for a massive amnesty.” The Goodlatte bill would have green-lighted at least 2 million illegal immigrants, probably more.
On spending, DeSantis noted that he voted against a number of the trillion-dollar omnibus spending bills that Trump supported and signed into law. “I think he should not have signed those omnibus spending bills,” DeSantis said. “He added almost $8 trillion to the debt in a four-year period of time.”
On COVID-19, DeSantis attacked Trump for relinquishing pandemic policy to National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci. “Trump did great for three years,” DeSantis said Thursday, “but when he turned the country over to Fauci … that destroyed millions of people’s lives.”
On abortion, Trump has attacked DeSantis for signing a six-week abortion ban in Florida. Trump says this is “too harsh.” “Protecting an unborn child when there’s a detectable heartbeat is something that almost 99 percent of pro-lifers support,” DeSantis responded.
DeSantis also took Trump to task for failing to drain the swamp as he promised to do both on the campaign trail and in office. In particular, DeSantis promised to start cleaning house by firing FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom Trump appointed. “If the FBI and DOJ were to collude with a tech company to try and censor information, everybody involved with that would be immediately fired if I was president,” DeSantis said, referring to Twitter and Facebook suppressing a factual story about Hunter Biden’s laptop which President Joe Biden wanted deep-sixed. “When there’s no accountability, the bad behavior is going to continue.”
A quick look at the polls shows that Trump is the clear front-runner in the Republican race. DeSantis faces a steep climb. If he is going to make the case that he is a more effective implementer of conservative policy, he can’t afford more technical difficulties.
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But Trump is also vulnerable. He would not spend money and time attacking DeSantis if he wasn’t. He hardly bothers with the other candidates.
Policy fights are healthy for a party in a presidential primary. They create expectations and unity if the White House is secured. DeSantis’s policy-focused campaign has already made the party better.
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