Shots fired. A super PAC supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has fired a first volley of criticism at former President Donald Trump in a television advertisement. DeSantis is expected to run for the presidency, which would pit him against Trump as the two top contenders for the GOP nomination. The new advertisement could set the tone for an unpleasant and unchivalrous series of ad hominem attacks.
“Donald Trump is being attacked by a Democratic prosecutor in New York,” the advertisement’s narration reads, “so why is he spending millions attacking the Republican governor of Florida? Trump’s stealing pages from the Biden-Pelosi playbook.”
DeSantis Ad Blasts Trump
The ad continues, criticizing Trump for the offensive he has waged against DeSantis’s stance on entitlements. DeSantis has proposed cutting entitlement programs like Social Security, prompting Trump to say that DeSantis was the type of guy who would wheel Grandpa’s wheelchair right over a cliff.
More substantively, DeSantis voted – as a member of Congress in 2013 – to bump the Medicare and Social Security qualification age up to 70. However, DeSantis has more recently said that he didn’t think Republicans should interfere with entitlement programs during spending negotiations.
The new DeSantis ad also painted Trump as a hypocrite, in that he too has previously proposed cutting entitlement programs. Specifically, the ad featured a Trump interview from the World Economic Forum, where he said that entitlements would be up for spending cuts “at some point.”
“At some point they will be,” Trump said. “At the right time, we will take a look at that.”
The ad concludes with a flourish, stating that Trump should fight Democrats rather than attack DeSantis, asking “What happened to Donald Trump?”
And here we go.
“The two Republicans’ relationship has soured with both seemingly destined for a showdown on the campaign trail for the GOP’s nomination in 2024,” The Hill reported. “Trump has already started his campaign, and DeSantis is expected to in the next couple of months.”
Early polls have indicated that Trump remains the GOP frontrunner – but that DeSantis is the most viable challenger. The contest between the two leading Republicans was always expected to turn ugly; it’s not in Trump’s nature to play nice – he has an established history of ad hominem attacks on his political rivals.
Trump has belittled everyone from Jeb Bush to Hillary Clinton. But the curious thing here is that DeSantis’s side has taken the offensive. Whereas so many of Trump’s rivals have played meekly, afraid to incur the targeted wrath of Washington’s most vindictive figure, DeSantis’s new advertisement directly criticizes Trump. “What happened to Donald Trump?” That’s not going to sit well with the vainglorious and thin-skinned Trump, a figure fighting to remain relevant in the wake of a 2020 general election defeat. Expect Trump to respond with a volley of his own criticism.
DeSantis’ Savvy at Picking Fights
Team DeSantis has helped craft Ron DeSantis into a household name, in large part, due to the fights picked and the stands taken. DeSantis operates with a gimmicky streak, seeming to have a sixth sense for crafting policy. He runs his administration in a way guaranteed to maximize national media exposure and increase his name-brand recognition. I’m thinking of when he chartered a flight full of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, for example.
In the past, DeSantis’s gimmicks have paid off – but they were all calibrated toward attacking the left in some respect. Let’s see how the DeSantis supporting PAC’s ad pays off now that the attack is focused on the right (which curiously, is the point made against Trump in the attack itself).
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Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
