Just the opposite. A reasonable person wouldn't see poll after poll either showing massive double digit leads or close to 90% Republican approval rating and think to themselves "it doesn't matter".
The only way your claim would begin to make sense is if Trump was an untested fad candidate who hasn't already been elected President. A candidate who could be exposed and crushed in a debate or by a single mistaken word.
Obviously there is nothing DeSantis can say or do to "expose" Trump.
Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz had to go on an apology tour taking photos with Trump and bending the knee. Every other candidate who refused is gone, which you intentionally ignore. Even then, Cruz still just barely won his election, doing substantially worse than Abbot.
holding his own
Only in your anti-Trump dreams, troll. His numbers are as consistent with Pence and the other lovers who will never beat Trump. That said, DeSantis isn't a NeverTrumper and isn't going to run against him anyway.
Yeah...I think I caught the beginning of that "apology tour" in front of the TX delegation after the GOP convention. Cruz sounds real apologetic (lol).
Every other candidate who refused is gone
Marco Rudio...still around....Rand Paul...still around... Chris Cristie...still around.
Even Jebito is still hovering somewhere in the background like the ghost of Christmas past.
Speaker Paul Ryan isn't around, but he left Nancy Pelosi to take his place...after failing to fund the border wall, a signature piece of the Trump agenda.
Looking at the current infrastructure bill winding its way through Congress, its hard to understand how Trump couldn't finagle $5 billion dollars funding in 2017.