Ron DeSantis Cannot Be Trump’s VP – Donald J. Trump is running for reelection in 2024 and he won’t allow for any competition to his Right.
That is why the one-term president has become so agitated about the possibility that Florida’s wildly popular, conservative governor, Ron DeSantis, might be running against Trump in 2024. Even though DeSantis has not yet officially announced that he is running, many sources in Tallahassee indicate that the governor is looking at this summer, around when the Florida legislative session ends, for him to announce.
Despite DeSantis’ support among Florida voters and the fact that his policies since taking over the governor’s office in 2018 are, by far, the best policies for any state, recent polling suggests that the governor’s standing as a potential candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024 is cratering.
DeSantis’ Poll Numbers Crashing
Last month, the prospect of Ron DeSantis entering the race to challenge Trump caused DeSantis to skyrocket to the top of the Republican primary polls for 2024 (even beating out the forty-fifth president). Since Trump revealed that he was set to be indicted by a politically motivated Manhattan district attorney for his alleged hush money payments to the pornographic star, Stormy Daniels, DeSantis has been replaced by Trump as the top candidate among Republican voters.
Still, the sniping between the two Republican executives continues to escalate. Outside observers contend that these two men—both domineering personalities who are highly competitive by nature—will not back down from a fight with each other, as they vie for the GOP nomination.
Most of us understand that any significant degree of intraparty bloodletting, as happened in the 2012 Republican Presidential Primary, will weaken whoever becomes the GOP nominee going into the General Election, and likely lead to an electoral defeat at the hands of President Joe Biden.
Ron DeSantis and Trump: A Team-Up to Save America?
To counteract what many on the Right fear to be a self-destructive—and likely avoidable—primary fight, some are wondering if the two Right-wing titans would be willing to set their differences aside and team up.
After all, Ronald Reagan named George H.W. Bush as his vice-presidential running-mate after the bruising 1980 Republican Party Primary in which the two men spent months verbally gutting each other at every turn. Many believe that Reagan’s decision to nominate Bush as his number two ensured the GOP remained united and strong going into the General Election against President Jimmy Carter.
Alas, Governor DeSantis dispelled any hope that such an outcome could recur in 2024. Understandably, the competitive DeSantis told Newsmax’s Eric Bolling, when asked by the host if the Florida governor would be willing to become Trump’s number two that, “I think I’m probably more an executive guy. I think that you want to be able to do things.” Interestingly, this was precisely the same answer that Donald Trump had given to an interviewer when asked if he’d settle for being vice-president, if he lost the GOP Primary in 2016.
Birds of a feather, it seems, don’t flock together.
DeSantis is smart to avoid becoming Trump’s number two. Just look at what happened to the last guy who was Trump’s vice-president. Nothing good, that’s for sure. What’s more, unlike Mike Pence, DeSantis is incapable of being an obsequious attendant to The Donald’s every pedestrian whim and flight of fancy.
It would be an awful fit. Both men know this about each other. Ultimately, both Reagan and Bush being of a fundamentally better generation than what either Trump or DeSantis represent (the Baby Boom for Trump and Gen-X for DeSantis), understood how to align interests and work toward shared goals.
The twelfth amendment of the United States Constitution reads, “The Electors in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves”. This explicit statement proves that the those on the Right hoping for a Trump-DeSantis ticket in 2024 are deluding themselves at a time when the scales must be fully lifted their eyes.
Even if Trump and DeSantis wanted to run together—and they certainly do not—they are constitutionally forbidden from doing so (which is just as well because neither man would be as effective together as they would be apart).
Battle Royale Unavoidable at This Point
No, the battle that so many fear between Trump and DeSantis is already underway. The fight must be had. The Republican base demands it. What’s more, if DeSantis doesn’t run after all the hoopla about him getting into the 2024 race, he will severely weaken himself and diminish his chances of being a viable candidate in 2028. One of these men will be the nominee.
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The Republican National Committee (RNC) should recognize that none of the other possible candidates—least of all Mike Pence—has any chance whatsoever of being the nominee and should rewrite the rules to allow for only the top two candidates (Trump and DeSantis) to run in 2024, so as to mitigate any protracted damaged to the party going into the General Election.
Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who serves as a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive.com. Weichert is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower(Republic Book Publishers), The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (March 28), and Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (May 16). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
