Why so worried?
“cherished and massive MAGA vote” lol. Obviously not massive enough to win an election.
![Cheesy :D](http://www.getbig.com/boards/Smileys/classic/cheesy.gif)
---
Freshly indicted Trump has gone from mocking DeSantis to begging him not to run. SAD!
Remember in 2015 when then-candidate Donald Trump unfairly blasted Republican Sen. John McCain?
“He’s not a war hero,” Trump said. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.”
Republicans should take a cue from the former president and send him the following message: They like presidential candidates who haven’t been indicted (and throw in lying about losing an election).
Following Trump’s recent New York charges on allegedly falsifying business records in conjunction with a 2016 hush money payout to a porn star, he has been acting extra defensive.
Despite the nonstop news coverage and the drama which Trump thrives on, the publicity doesn’t seem to be rallying Republicans to him like some had predicted.
While Trump is mired in his legal troubles, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is traveling to key states around the country, boasting about what he has accomplished as governor and how Florida could serve as a model for the country. He was in my state of Michigan last week.
For the most part, DeSantis has ignored Trump – and Trump’s incessant attacks against him. It’s driving the former president nuts.
This week, Trump seems to have shifted his messaging about his likely GOP presidential competition. Rather than lobbing lazy name-calling DeSantis’ way, he’s outright pleading for the governor not to run. At least that’s what it sounds like.
“Ron DeSantis is a young man who is not doing well against me in the polls, to put it mildly,” Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social. “I believe that if he decides to run for President, which will only hurt and somewhat divide the Republican Party, he will lose the cherished and massive MAGA vote, and never be able to successfully run for office again. If he remains Governor, which is what Florida voters assumed, it would be a whole different story…JUST SAYIN’ – But who knows?”
Later that day, Trump sent out a news release doubling down on previous accusations that DeSantis should resign as governor if he runs for president.
Trump's looking nervous
Trump’s doing everything he can think of to dissuade DeSantis from getting in the race.
Why? Because Trump obviously realizes DeSantis poses the biggest threat to him. And nothing scares Trump more than the prospect of losing (2020 anyone?).
Several recent polls point to troubles ahead for Trump. One from ABC/Ipsos found Trump's favorability rating at only 25%.
Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store.
And while Trump still has a fairly consistent lead over DeSantis (who still hasn’t declared his candidacy) in national polls, that advantage appears to be shrinking. In some individual states, DeSantis is leading.
Trump wants you to think he's the victim: Maybe he's just a bad dude
DeSantis doesn't have the baggage
A recent survey from Issues & Insights and the pollster TIPP found that in the past month, Trump has lost support among Republicans and right-leaning independents. He still has a healthy lead among GOP presidential contenders with 47%, but that has dropped from 51%. During the same timeframe, support for DeSantis grew to 23% from 22%.
No other declared or likely GOP candidate is even close at this point. That’s clearly enough to make Trump fret about his fellow Floridian.
With other indictments possible on the horizon for Trump, it’s hard to know how this will all play out with the Republican base.
Regardless of how politicized most of these investigations have been, it seems voters on the right are increasingly ready for a fresh candidate – and one who hasn’t been indicted.
---
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Freshly+indicted+Trump+has+gone+from+mocking+DeSantis+to+begging+him+not+to+run.+SAD%21