Posted on 09/28/2023 7:30:06 PM PDT by Drew68
For reasons mysterious to the rational human mind, Fox News and the Republican National Committee decided to subject Americans to the most bizarre public spectacle in recent memory. It was stupid. It was strange. It was the second Republican presidential primary debate, which began with British-American Stuart Varney having a seizure while attempting to introduce his Univision cohost Ilia Calderón and concluded with Dana Perino asking the contestants who should be “voted off the island.”
“Leading the charge, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dismissed the question outright,” The Independent reported. “I’m not going to do that, with all due respect, we’re here, we’re happy to debate, I think that that’s disrespectful to my fellow competitors,” he said.
It was a strong moment for DeSantis in a night otherwise filled with buffoonery, enabled by inept moderators who seemed to have it out for him and fueled by obnoxious, often shrill candidates. Yet as absurd as the evening was, it also marked the first time DeSantis took a more aggressive approach toward tackling the GOP frontrunner, former President Donald Trump. It was a good start, and the governor will have to do a lot more of it over the next few months.
But first, it’s worth noting how bad a night The Donald had.
The former president had intended to join striking United Auto Workers in Michigan on the picket line in an attempt to keep alive his populist myth. However, as soon as he caught wind of the planned visit, the head of the union denounced Trump as a fraud with an imaginary record of achievements for workers. So instead of hitting the picket line, Trump slinked to a non-unionized auto parts supplier, where his team reportedly distributed union signs to random people.
Trump’s team presented the event on social media as if Trump was speaking to a large crowd filled with union workers. In reality, it was a Potemkin village of populism that failed to draw the desired viewership.
Newsweek reported that the debate, broadcasted on the GOP’s official Rumble channel, received 1.25 million views versus the 522,000 Trump’s speech attracted, which was shared on his official channel. Trump’s channel has 2 million followers; the GOP has just over 46,000 followers.
Meanwhile, at the debate, DeSantis hammered the absentee former president. In the lead-up to the event, DeSantis swiped at Trump during an interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News for a number of failures, including his failure to build the wall.
He kept up his criticisms at the debate.
Trump, he said, “should be on this stage tonight. He owes it to you to defend his record, where they added $7.8 trillion to the debt that set the stage for the inflation that we have now.”
He also hit Trump for throwing the pro-life crowd under the bus.
After the 2022 midterm elections, which saw several losses by awful Trump-endorsed candidates, Trump blamed the disappointing results on pro-life Republicans. Later, in an interview with The National Pulse, Trump suggested that pro-life activists are grifters. “Everybody’s raising money all the time—I don’t know, maybe it’s some kind of business. I don’t know what’s going on,” he said.
Those comments were deeply ironic from a man who allegedly inflated his wealth by billions of dollars to scam banks before ripping off Republican voters for hundreds of millions. DeSantis made it a point to remind the audience he shouldn’t be let off the hook for that.
Trump, he said, “should be here explaining his comments, to try to say that pro-life protections are somehow a terrible thing. I want him to look into the eyes and tell people who have been fighting this fight for a long time.”
DeSantis continued that line of attack after the debate, mocking the former president for refusing to face him.
“He’s had a lot to say about me on social media, really since 2022 right before the midterm election,” DeSantis said of Trump. “It’s one thing to do it behind a keyboard, step up on stage and do it to my face. I’m ready for it.” He even suggested Trump is afraid of going toe-to-toe after losing the first debate to then-candidate Joe Biden in 2020.
Nearly 1 in 3 potential GOP primary voters watched the event, with most of them awarding the first place to DeSantis, according to a 538/Washington Post/Ipsos poll.
Some swiftly dismissed the results, insisting that it would not do much to change the overall race. Trump himself was apparently more concerned. He attacked the Republican National Committee afterward, demanding Republicans immediately “stop the debates.” That also follows polling showing most Iowa and New Hampshire voters aren’t sold on Trump and are still looking elsewhere.
Trump’s comments, state polling, and disastrous efforts at counterprogramming suggest people might be missing the real takeaway: DeSantis took some of his most direct jabs at Trump and walked away looking good.
He did it by merely forcefully reciting the facts about Trump’s record. And if DeSantis wants to chip away at Trump’s support, it seems like that’s what he will have to do for the next few months: expose Trump as a fraud and a failure by attacking him based on his actual record. In particular on immigration and economic issues, where Trump seems strongest.
But that strength is as illusory as the union event in Michigan, the border wall Trump promised to build, and the auto assembly plants he vowed to bring back to America. Most Republicans, moreover, have never been exposed to Trump’s real record because conservative media has coddled him. Last night suggested there’s an appetite for the hard truth.
DeSantis looked good.
But they need to stop using fake polls.
Consider the source.
If you keep believing your own BS, you’re going to end up very disappointed.
DeSantis ended his political career last night. Blaming Trump for Biden’s inflation was an act of political suicide. There is no recovery for him now.
According to the Floriduh Standard, Trump should go ahead and throw in the towel.
I did.
And then I considered that every slobbering hagiography by kneepad-wearing Sundunce gets posted here so I figured, why not?
Trump 53, DeSantis 14, Haley 7, Ramaswamy 5, Pence 4, Scott 3, Christie 2, Burgum 0, Hutchinson 0 Trump +39
Nomination is over. Get over it. Meatball is out of his league. It shows last night. He was sweating all evening during debate, more than others.
Seriously?
This is a joke.
Trump kicked off the inflation spiral when he handed the country over to Fauci who shut everything down and then mailed everybody Covid checks.
DeSantis has nothing to lose at this point so he might as well tell the truth.
2024 Iowa Republican Presidential Caucus CBS News Trump 51, DeSantis 21, Haley 8, Ramaswamy 5, Scott 6, Pence 6, Christie 1, Burgum 0, Binkley, Hutchinson 1 Trump +30
Meatball burned his chances in 2028.
Ron DeSantis is running in the wrong race.
I like him, he is a good governor but it is not his time.
His challenge, to Former President DJT, is futile.
Ron has had bad advice and he won’t be able to survive the loss
that he could have avoided.
If he is tied to Deep State, I wish his failure.
If not, he should fire the advisor. Too early, too bad!
That article reads like yellow journalism...
2024 New Hampshire Republican Presidential Primary CBS News Trump 50, Haley 11, DeSantis 13, Christie 8, Ramaswamy 8, Scott 5, Burgum 2, Pence 2, Hutchinson 1, Hurd 0 Trump +37
Meatball losing big in NH.
Trump slinked to a non-unionized auto parts supplier, where his team reportedly distributed union signs to random people.
Why would trump hand out union signs. We aren’t crazy about unions. Plus he went to a nonunion store. He should have been proud of that and yelled about the success of the store even without a union.
He should have stopped at the spending of 7.8 trillion of debt part. I agree.
Individual states and local governments shut things down. When you have to lie to make a point, you e already lost, Ron.
Turns out, abandoning one's deeply held conservative principles because easier and easier after repeated practice.
DeSantis made a campaign ad for Pedo Joe based on a huge lie.
He is forever a NO for me.
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