Massie Says Trump Is Wrong About DeSantis

Real Clear Politics ^ | April 8 | By Philip Wegmann

[RandFan]

Another member of Congress has called on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to challenge former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. This time it is Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie.

Endorsements are not unusual, but the move by Massie could undercut recent Trump attacks that DeSantis was once a “disciple” of “RINO loser” former House Speaker Paul Ryan.

The most outspoken libertarian in the House, it was Massie, not Trump, who opposed Ryan. He was the only Republican to vote against him for speaker, a move Massie worried “would attract the wrath of President Trump” because, at the time, “that’s how strongly Trump had endorsed him.”

“Go back and roll the tape,” Massie told RealClearPolitics, noting how Trump’s endorsement effectively quelled all opposition from the speaker’s right flank. A perennial thorn in the side of GOP leadership, he tried assuaging the anger of the populist president by cribbing his vocabulary. On the floor, Massie said his opposition stemmed only from a desire “to drain the swamp.”

The current Trump complaint that DeSantis was in cahoots with Ryan while in Congress, Massie said, “is a joke.” He should know.

Massie was one of the so-called “insurgents” who was regularly at war with Ryan’s predecessor, Speaker John Boehner. He recalled sitting at dinner with then-Rep. DeSantis and rejoicing when news broke that Boehner’s most loyal lieutenant, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, lost his primary.

“We relished those election results,” Massie said. “We were both so excited to see Eric Cantor lose!” He said of his former colleague, a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, “Ron wasn’t a fan of any of [GOP House] leadership.”

[RandFan]

The attacks from Trump seem stupid when looking at the facts?

I'm willing to give Ron a second look just worried that he's being supported by some bad guys.

[RandFan]

What’s the saying ?

Politics makes for some strange bedfellows...

[Farcesensitive]

Massie is wrong about Trump and DS.

DS’s record in Congress was bad and getting worse before he left.

https://thenewamerican.com/freedom-index/legislator/d000621/

Score Congress
70% Lifetime
63% 115th (2017-2018)
67% 114th (2015-2016)
80% 113th (2013-2014)

[TECTopcat]

yeah the attacks by Trump on DeSantis is not good look for Trump

[BobL]

“yeah the attacks by Trump on DeSantis is not good look for Trump”

Maybe not, but it did force DeSantis to respond, and he did so in a way that ends his 2024 chances (either in the Primary, or when he cannot get Trump voters in Nov. 2024).

[aMorePerfectUnion]

—> just worried that he’s being supported by some bad guys.

I find it more troublesome that Ron chose to work with the Bushies.

Disqualifies him to me.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

—> yeah the attacks by Trump on DeSantis is not good look for Trump

I highly value that Trump will fight.

[central_va]

Wimpy pussified GOPe squishes backing a RINO trojan horse named Desantis is not a good look either. Just sayin’.

[bte]

Presidential election are not about logic or qualifications. RINO’s and establishment types just don’t get it...LET ME BE CLEAR DESANTIS DOES NOT HAVE IT...cry, whine, moan, he is not beating Trump for GOP nomination; poll trends should make that clear by now...Desantis is more of a Jeb Bush! Scott Walker type.

If you have TDS you can’t see it anyone else would have seen this a year ago...the GOP is not the democratic party made-up of mostly NPC’s...GOP primary voters are a varied group of very aware people.

[Clutch Martin]

Two years out, anything can happen. I’ve been very supportive of the theory that DeSantis will not run, I personally think if he does run he’s letting Florida down which is a shame. This past week is led me to believe that my assumptions have been askew.

[oblomov]

Trump freely chose to hire the Bushies, and ppl in the Bush circle:

William Barr
Alex Azar
Jeff Sessions
Rex Tillerson
John Bolton
Mick Mulvaney
Jim Mattis
John Kelly
Tom Bossert
H.R. McMaster
Gary Cohn
Ty Cobb
Kurt Volker

Does this disqualify Trump, too?

[Drew68]

I find it more troublesome that Ron chose to work with the Bushies.

LOL! What "Bushies" is DeSantis working with?

Anyhow, then there's this:

"Earlier this month, Trump picked Bill Barr, an attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, as his replacement for Jeff Sessions. Two of his recent hires for the White House counsel’s office, Mike Purpura and Pat Philpin, served under President George W. Bush. They will report to the new White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, who served in the elder Bush’s Justice Department.

Meanwhile, the newly confirmed deputy secretary of the Treasury Department, Justin Muzinich, worked on Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign and helped draft his tax plan. Trump’s pick to run the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Heath Tarbert, served as an associate counsel to George W. Bush — a fact unmentioned in a recent White House announcement of his nomination. Jim Jeffrey, a former senior aide in George W. Bush’s White House, became Trump’s U.S. special representative to Syria in August.

And then there’s Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh — a former George W. Bush White House aide who liked Bush so much he later served as his personal lawyer..."

[aMorePerfectUnion]

—> LOL! What “Bushies” is DeSantis working with?

The usual.

Rove, Jeb, Ryan, etc.

Happy Resurrection Day!

[aMorePerfectUnion]

I’ve been around long enough to remember when critical thinking was commonly demonstrated by FReepers.

[Drew68]

Rove, Jeb, Ryan, etc.

He's brought them on board his team?

Trump, meanwhile, hired Bush's JV team for half of his administration.

[BuddhaBrown]

Trump is NOT an honest man.

Trump is NOT an honorable man.

He is the most purely populist politician to muck up the R party in my lifetime.

[central_va]

chgogal posted:

Which POTUS was as successful as Trump? Look at what Trump accomplished:

1. Gas price per gallon was about $2.30;
2. Inflation about 1.4%, mortgage rates were half of what they are now;
3. Unemployment was low before Covid and before Blue Governors shut everything down and we were in the midst of a V-shape recovery until January 22, 2021;
4. Tax decrease; tax laws promoted small businesses as well as large;
5. US enjoyed energy independence - No Green Agenda, no war on energy, No Paris Treaty;
6. No war in Ukraine, no threat of nuclear war, NATO paid its way;
7. China was quiet and we were winning the trade war;
8. US companies were bringing home the jobs due to well executed tax treatments;
9. Peace in the Middle East aka Abraham Accords; US Embassy moved to Jerusalem; and Iran was isolated.
10. Got three non-left “I don't know what a woman is” Supreme Court Justices on the bench allowing Roe vs Wade to be overturned.

Who the heck can accomplish the above in four years while being impeached twice and investigated by Obama's Weaponized Agencies?

[central_va]

Trump is the MOST investigated man in history. He is about as squeaky clean as it gets. They can only try to get him with fake crimes prosecuted by a fake judicial system.

[central_va]

Speaking of not looking good.

[Socon-Econ]

just worried that he’s being supported by some bad guys.

I find it more troublesome that Ron chose to work with the Bushies.

Disqualifies him to me.
*********
So now matter how good Desantis’ actual accomplishments may be, or what he may have done better than Trump, the only thing that matters is that he and a Bush have some issues in common?