Ron....this is just so EWWWWWW!#SoyBoy pic.twitter.com/fI83DO0mrP— DailyNoah.com (@DailyNoahNews) September 28, 2023
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.
This is highly ineffective in the primary and damaging to the prospects of any nominee for the general election. Basically, yet again, making the case that Biden is just trying to clean up a mess Trump created.
The "magic" if DeSantis is gone - and by his own hand. He is not the alternative that can give us Trump's policies but without all of the drama and baggage...no, he's saying all of this bad stuff happened not because of Biden but because of Trump. Pointless and damaging narrative.
the desanctimonious influencer, and
the florida standard, a p.r. site for desantis...
It seems the FR desantis influencers are still trying to salvage desanctimonious' performance at the debate and in the polls and gaslight FR into supporting desantis.
This is highly ineffective in the primary and damaging to the prospects of any nominee for the general election. Basically, yet again, making the case that Biden is just trying to clean up a mess Trump created.
The "magic" of DeSantis is gone - and by his own hand. He is not the alternative that can give us Trump's policies but without all of the drama and baggage...no, he's saying all of this bad stuff happened not because of Biden but because of Trump. Pointless and damaging narrative.
LOL! Hook a generator up to that spin machine and it would power 28,000 homes.
Good point.
Ron....this is just so EWWWWWW!#SoyBoy pic.twitter.com/fI83DO0mrP— DailyNoah.com (@DailyNoahNews) September 28, 2023
good. thank God Gov Ron is in the race.
So, that explains Trump last night. Sounded like a small group, and apparently was. Fake union workers at a non-union company. Priceless. What a fraud. And just after being convicted for fraud in New York.
Pedro Gonzalez? Meh
No he didn’t. He was a sweaty arse disaster. Nobody is talking DeSantis today or any day. Well Joe Biden likes him.
Trump was fantastic in Michigan and THIS crap is penned by assclown Pedro Gonzales.
He never lied about that. People knew it was a non union store prior to, you nitwit.
5 Republicans and 1 Democrat voted against the Covid relief bill.
If you going to try out blame this game, then every GOP Senator and all but 5 Republican Congressmen are responsible.
DeSantis, who cheerfully spent every dime sent to his state is also responsible
Saying Trump should have vetoed bills that had veto proof majority support in Congress represent a level of political imbecility that disqualifies DeSantis from any serious consideration as a political candidate ever again.
LOL! Oh, man...
I’m done voting for republicans unless it’s Donald trump. Desantis will always sound good because he’s a liar and will sell us out like George bush did and every other rino has .
Giving Der Biden cover on his out of control Inflation was an act of sure politically imbecility by DeSantis
Propaganda is propaganda there’s spin for Trump posted all the time around here.
What is posted here is spin for DeSantis and that’s how I objectively look at it.
Yes, my good FRiend, DeSantis was presidential, cordial and showed leadership among the contenders.
If I had to pick a bad night for any, it would be Ms. Haley. She was beyond accusative to many candidates, interruptive, and demonstrated to our voting Citizens that she is not presidential material.
I liked DeSantis' responses and comments (which were succinct and powerful), one of the best of which was on the topic of the Ukraine war. Essentially, if Europe isn't totally on board, why should we be, especially in a dangerous time in the world, and when our own military needs attention, not attrition. (My words, his were better.)
The TDS is strong on this thread. Sad - people still hawking then warmonger RINOs, none of whom give a fat rat’s backside about the United States or her Constitution.
I watched Trump’s rally. I have no idea who all was there, but it was incredibly good, even better than usual.
“DeSantis Dominates Debate, Trump Flails In Michigan”
Trump couldn’t get a word in edgewise in the Michigan debate, he is TOAST!!!
He also believes Ukraine is winning.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.