Share
Op-Ed

Dick Morris: DeSantis Falls Short in Attacks on Trump - Voters Know the Truth

Share

Ron DeSantis is searching for a message in his attacks on Donald Trump. He hasn’t found one yet.

As a political consultant, it occurs to me that this search might have been more profitably conducted before — rather than after — he announced his candidacy.

But each of the themes with which the Florida governor has experimented has fallen short.

He says Trump is a loser, citing Republican defeats in ’22, but MAGA voters realize that Trump helped us retake the House and beat Hillary Clinton in the Armageddon race of 2016. Some loser!

He says Trump has moved to the left, but then the former president comes back and calls for an end to birthright citizenship, saying that those who come here illegally cannot count on their children automatically becoming citizens.

Trending:
Prince Harry Named in Major Sex Trafficking Lawsuit Against Rapper

DeSantis says he’ll keep the promises Trump made in 2016 but couldn’t accomplish and vows that, by serving two terms, he can get it all done. But voters remember how Trump kept each and every one of his campaign promises, an achievement without parallel in our politics.

He criticizes Trump for releasing nonviolent offenders. But nobody can really believe Trump is soft on crime. And DeSantis voted for the bill, anyway.

He tries to differentiate himself from Trump over COVID, but the former president notes that New York had a lower per capita death rate than Florida.

Do you support DeSantis?

DeSantis says the presidency cannot be about “entertainment,” but no serious observer would confuse Trump with Adam Sandler.

And, on abortion, DeSantis dares to call the architect of the end of Roe v. Wade insufficiently pro-life. Trump counters that he worked hard to reverse Roe and that he’s not about to restore a federal mandate.

Nobody will believe that Trump is soft on crime, lacking in substance, moving to the left, pro-abortion or an inveterate loser.

But they will believe, and should, that DeSantis voted to raise the Social Security retirement age to 70 and to lower cost-of-living adjustments.

DeSantis, and perhaps former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — who entered the race yesterday — probably hope that Trump will be indicted by special prosecutor Jack Smith for the supposed crimes of doing what President Joe Biden did (taking archives home) and inciting the Jan. 6 demonstration. But everybody knows that Trump told everyone on that day to protest peacefully.

If the New York indictment didn’t hurt Trump — and in fact led to a 10-point jump in his poll numbers — how do they figure a new indictment will work any better?

Related:
Dick Morris: Biden Is Not Delivering for His Base

DeSantis should have tested his act before he took it on the road.

The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
, , , , ,
Share
Dick Morris is a former adviser to President Bill Clinton as well as a political author, pollster and consultant. His most recent book, "50 Shades of Politics," was written with his wife, Eileen McGann.




Conversation