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He definitely has an awkwardness about him.
DeSantis thread
- Thread starter jsmith6919
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I missed it unfortunately
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Sheik
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He’s on the spectrum for sure.
They should have put a mouse in his pocket so he had something to play with.
roughneck266
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That is some very awkward shit. Jesus, this man can step on his own dick without even trying.
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Yeah and it is alarming.
At first you were like, okay. Then the pudding thing. Now he's a clown.
Once it gets to that point in an election, you have no chance.
But then again, this is the new way.
Candidates are going to be monitored constantly.
At least for behaviors.
Now the fucking shit that got them to where they want and what they do when they get there should be the real focus.
It is clear DeSantis has manufactured his image through orchestrated press conferences. In a public setting, he is toast.
Neither party has done a very good job at talent development at the top.
And that is a real weakness in this country as a whole.
I think those that have the power in our society are quite possibly as in-bred, connected, stupid and self-absorbed as they have ever been in recorded human history.
roughneck266
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I can't agree more with this assessment. This is the very reason that people like Trump have done well. God knows he is far from perfect, but he ain't them. That is the very core of the reason I voted for him the first time around. It's also one of many reasons I like Vivek. My biggest fear at this point is more of the same shit we have had to vote for for decades now. The leaders of this country should be intelligent people from OUR society. None of the politicians in the establishment are members of OUR society. They are all filthy rich and have been looking down their noses at us since they were conceived. It's absolute bullshit. I have always prided myself on getting along with pretty much anyone, but Jesus, I can't stand the sight of most of our politicians.
I been drinkin, I am sorry, rant over. lol
kidd
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I mean he’s not wrong.
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Elaborate, citizen.
kidd
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Chocolate Lab
Free Phil Mafah!
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Still don't even care what faces he makes.
And the Lincoln Project losers are still all major pieces of shit.
And the Lincoln Project losers are still all major pieces of shit.
kidd
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Copied from Twitter:
(Updated) Here are the Top 24 reasons most DeSantis supporters are done with Trump, even though nearly all of us voted for him twice:
1 - He didn't deliver on his frequent campaign refrains: "drain the swamp" or "build the wall and make Mexico pay for it" or "lock her up," despite his promises. The swamp got worse during his Presidency, remnants of the wall lay rusting along the border or have been sold off, and he let Hillary off the hook two weeks after taking office, saying the idea of it sold well before the election. Other Promises unkept: Trump DID NOT—Repeal the alternative minimum tax, Cut the number of tax brackets, End birthright citizenship, Enact 5-year ban on White House and congressional officials from lobbying, Impose death penalty for cop killers, Reverse China's entry into the World Trade Organization, Impose a hiring freeze on federal employees, Eliminate wasteful spending in every department, Place lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying for foreign government, Bring back manufacturing, Grow the economy by 4 percent a year, Add additional federal investment of $20 billion toward School Choice, Adopt the penny plan, Cancel all funding of sanctuary cities, Dramatically scale back the U.S. Education Department, Expand national right to carry to all 50 states (in fact, Trump went after the 2nd Amendment), Remove all undocumented immigrants, Eliminate gun-free zones at schools and military bases, Eliminate Common Core, Triple ICE enforcement, Get Congress to allow health insurance across state lines, Renegotiate the Iran deal, or Repeal and replace Obamacare, AND many other promises.
2 - He will be embroiled in legal troubles throughout the general campaign, will likely lose independents and the election, and I shudder to think what that does down ballot. BTW, he WILL be convicted in one or more of these cases. Getting a fair trial in a DC court if you are a republican or conservative is a unicorn. Trump is facing 4 criminal cases with 3 leftist jury pools in NY, DC, and Fulton County, GA. The idea he won’t be convicted is unbelievably naïve. Federal indictments have a 91+% success rate and Trump is facing two federal cases with multiple indictments. MAGA says they are all bogus and he will win on appeal. Again, this is incredibly naïve. The appeals process can take years and Trump would have to thread the needle on ALL of them to avoid prison time or house arrest.
But what does even one conviction mean to the GOP’s chances of winning the election? MAGA believes in “polls” now, so let’s go there. A Reuters poll in August suggests that Trump could lose up to 50% or more of Republican voters if Trump is convicted. That’s right, Republican voters. This idea that everyone outside of MAGA (other Republicans, Independents) would interpret a conviction like MAGA does, as political persecution, and vote Trump into office so that he could pardon himself, is ludicrous.
MAGA points to the current polls showing him in a virtual tie or leading Biden. Sure. These “polls” are 13 months from a general election. That's before the incessant drum beat for a whole year during the general, when ad after ad and the media attack Trump over these court cases and everything else. 35-40% of voters are indifferent, superficial, impressionable, or are currently not paying attention. Do you think it was an accident that the DC trial date is the day before Super Tuesday? These people know Trump’s empathy appeal spikes his polls and they’re counting on you to feel bad for him and make him the nominee. If a convicted Trump is our nominee, we lose everything. It's a trap. Don't fall for it.
3 - Even if he miraculously wins, he loses. He might pardon himself for the federal charges, but what about the state charges? How will that self-pardon play? “The first President to ever pardon himself.” Good luck in 2026 and 2028 with that narrative noose around our GOP necks. If Dems win the House, they will impeach him again for one or more of these phony charges. And what if he is actually guilty for even one of these charges? I think not, and I hope not, but what if he did even one of the things he’s indicted for? How does that sit with you? Either way, innocent or not, it won’t be resolved for years, and it won’t change the effect. Even if he’s cleared of all charges, he won't be able to govern because no agency will work with him knowing they can just wait him out. Congress won't either. Why would they work with a damaged President to fix anything? Good luck cleaning house when no one will work with you. Who is going to serve in a second Trump admin? His chief of staff was indicted in GA. What quality people are going to sign up to serve if Trump is going to engage in even one questionable act that may drag them down with him? It’s just reality. Are we winning one or both houses? Good luck passing legislation without both Houses. Ruling by Executive Orders like he did the first time will be a nice temporary relief, but you better stock up for the next Democrat in office. Trump will be a lame duck the moment he takes the oath.
4 - He's almost 80, and he looks all of it and unwell. He’s almost 80 and running for the most demanding job in the world. Don't complain about Biden's age and then elect Trump. Americans have been retired for nearly a decade at this point in their lives. Old people don’t decline at a steady rate. They decline rapidly. Instead of MAGA telling him, "Thank you. Well done. You exposed them. We got this. Retire and help us win," they're trying to martyr him and blow up the GOP in the process. Well, that isn't very bright. Unless you want to form your own viable party or tolerate the alternative, a leftist hellscape that used to be America, blowing up the GOP is not an option. The GOP isn't perfect, but it isn't homogenous, and it never will be. You must tolerate mushy moderates because 50+% of the country are NEVER going to be MAGA purists. I don’t want another octogenarian as President. Reagan had Alzheimer’s during his second term, Biden is a walking corpse. Not doing that again.
5 – Trump is not a good judge of character and frequently lets foxes in the henhouse if they stroke his ego.
6 – A very large number of people who worked with him and for him are not supporting him in 2024. In fact, 40 out of 44 cabinet members he hired are not supporting his 2024 bid. MAGA will say they are all losers or RINOs he exposed. To that, I say, it's unlikely that they are all bad people. But if they are, please see #5.
7 - He wasn't prepared when he took office and left hundreds of Obama holdovers in power. These same people undermined him and his administration. MAGA always points to the unprecedented level of attacks, internal “deep state” pushback, allegations, and unnamed sources within the government undermining him. They fail to realize, acknowledge, or accept that Trump allowed most of this to happen because he was incompetent and unprepared to handle the duties of President. If you leave leftists in power, they will torch you the first chance they get. He didn’t admit to these mistakes and change direction. Some big examples, Trump left Fauci, Wray, Barr, etc. in power even as they undermined him.
8 – No matter how he frames it and revises history, after Covid happened, he did everything Fauci and company wanted and signed whatever legislation Nancy Pelosi put in front of him, including the Cares Act, which turned out to be the biggest tool of the 2020 vote steal. Certainly, no one knew the severity or science that early on and he couldn’t have known how he was being lied to at the time, but he refused to remove Fauci from the task force, gave Fauci an award on the way out the door, and basically ceded the management of the country over to the medical swamp for most of the final year of his term. To this day, he also refuses to acknowledge his mistakes, defends the vax, falsely claims his vax has saved 100 million lives, falsely claims he couldn’t have removed Fauci, and constantly claims he did everything right.
9 – Trump spent us into oblivion during his first term. Sure, Covid happened, but he was running trillion dollar plus deficits every year before Covid. There wasn’t a single spending bill Trump didn’t sign. He bought farmer’s votes with subsidies, ran up almost 8 trillion dollars of debt (62% of which came before Covid), and failed again to live up to his campaign and administration promises. You can't print/spend/borrow 7.8 trillion and NOT also expect eventual inflation, higher interest rates, and a devalued dollar. Look at your gas prices and grocery bill. Obama, Trump, and Biden DID THAT.
10 – Trump had the WH, House, and Senate his first two years and failed to replace Obamacare. He failed to permanently secure the border, because Executive Orders don’t last and the wall, finished or not, clearly doesn’t work on its own. He failed to address term limits in Congress. He failed to drain the swamp even one millimeter, which is probably the biggest, most impactful failure of all. He ruled by Executive Orders his whole Presidency, which Biden trash canned his first day in office. The ONLY policies/deeds of significance that remain from his Presidency are his court appointments that he picked from list that was handed to him and tax cuts that are about to expire and contributed to his 7.8 trillion-dollar debt spending.
11 - His obsession with loyalty always seems to be a one-way street, especially if it means that his money is involved (i.e., J6ers, Rudy G, K. Mac, those indicted with him, etc.). These people “bled” for him and he trashes them or refuses to help them. He could have helped pay for non-violent J6er’s defense, or he could have at least visited them in prison, or he could have used his contacts to possibly make a difference in their treatment, or perhaps even showed some meaningful public support for them. He did NOTHING. To this day, he’s DONE NOTHING. What he DID DO on January 6th: He held the rally in DC. He said J6ers should march to the capital. He worked them up into a frenzy with the belief that their election had been stolen (without mentioning in that speech that he himself initiated the biggest piece of the steal, his Cares Act). He then went out the next day and publicly called them criminals. He ultimately raised 250 million off the “Stop the Steal” campaign after the election and spent ZERO dollars to help pay for the legal expenses J6ers faced.
12 - His "airing of grievances," court cases, and whole focus is on the past. I'm not interested in the past. Was it stolen? Even if you discount the suitcases under benches and trucks rolling in at 3 AM, state secretaries changed the rules without their legislatures and the media/gov/social media suppressed the HB laptop story, so YES, it was stolen. But, Trump lost, even enabling the instruments of that loss (Cares Act), he didn't protect the elections, and whether it was stolen or not, crooked Joe Biden is in the WH. Trump was in charge and he let it happen.
13 - Trump DOES NOT have the ability to engage in meaningful exchanges where he explains and sells his choices, policies, comments, and governing philosophy. He doesn't fight the narratives festering around him. Calling it "fake news," while true, is not an adequate defense to keep the proposed narrative from defining you. You must attack the narrative and the premises under it with logic, reason, and voracity. If you dismantle the narrative or the argument or the loaded reporter question, you stop the media and democrats from selling their crap to the public. Trump is either unwilling or incapable of doing this, and doing this is extremely integral to getting legislation passed and winning elections.
14 - He regularly punches down at people and engages in petty battles that mean nothing. The list of people and organizations Trump has needlessly attacked using the public platform of his Presidency and 2024 candidacy because of his personal beefs and perceived slights to his ego is too long to list here.
15 - He doesn't deserve the nomination if he's unwilling to earn it. He is not owed anything. There is no such thing as "his turn." This isn’t a monarchy. Candidates who throw their hat into the ring are NOT “disloyal.” Skipping debates because of 'polling numbers' is entitled and indicative of someone who is afraid to defend his record or defend his reasons for seeking a second term. He is not even campaigning more than a few times a month. He spends his days golfing and rage truthing and making dozens of ludicrous video mini speeches, as if he’s still President.
16 - He's a clever politician, entertainer, marketer, and businessman, but his positions and principles are often for sale if the deal is right.
17 - He is woefully arrogant and makes every accomplishment or criticism about himself. He rarely says "we," and that says a lot.
18 - His campaign is tangentially about the future, but that's not the main thrust of it. His campaign is mostly about revenge and his ego, not the good of the country. If he was thinking solely about the country, he would drop out, handle his legal woes, and help us do what he was unable to do.
19 - Ultra MAGA, his cult following, not the persuadable, is nothing more than an identity group engaging in identity politics. They are an identity group, just like BLM, feminists, LGBTQ, etc. They held up Trump as their champion because they felt disenfranchised, marginalized, and oppressed, and Trump was the force they put forward to tear it all down. At first, like many identity groups, there was validity to many of their grievances. The working class had been forgotten, the system was and is not working on their behalf. But unlike most identity groups, they wanted the existing system to begin working for them. They wanted a course correction. However, like ALL identity groups, their impetus changed and devolved into something darker and delusional. Ultra MAGA wants to tear it all down. They want a system that is right in their own eyes. They want to abandon the rule of law and exact "justice" on their own terms. Where their interests and the Constitution align, they embrace it. Where it doesn't, they ignore it. Ultra MAGA embraces and employs the tactics of leftists now. They are now what these other identity groups always were, militant grievance hustlers who ignore truth and morality and reality to serve their own ends. Trump is their vehicle, their champion, because he is the embodiment of their moral evolution. He was in 2016 what they've become in 2023.
If this battle is not about realistic policy goals and re-constitutionalizing our government, and it's about name-calling, tearing down proven conservatives and good people, and constantly lobbing hate and false accusations, we deserve to lose. We are no better than the leftists who do it.
20 - While the "listless vessel" comment hurt Trump’s cult of personality voters, DeSantis wasn't wrong, and it needed to be said. This isn’t name calling. It’s just the objective truth. Some of these Trump supporters act like he’s second only to Christ himself and no matter what he says or does, they defend it. They “feel” Trump. Trump is their persecuted, post-modern Jesus, a relativistic elixir salesman promising miracles, so they’ll find any excuse to validate their support and vote for him, even if he’s not worthy of it. I’m not sure where this comes from. Perhaps these devotees relate to his defiant demeanor, his grievance politics, because they too feel like victims of this economy and society and life in general, and they live vicariously through his full-throated “screw you” to the world. But it’s a cloud, some fog they all live in. Trump is not coming on a white horse to vanquish all their real and perceived enemies. He’s not going to deal some great vengeance on the deep state or lock all these bad actors up, for all the reasons I have already mentioned. Re-capturing our freedoms and our country can't be about one man.
21 – Where is Melania? Where is his wife? Between the court cases and his family, Trump has more pressing matters to attend to. His ego needs to take a back seat and he needs to step down for the good of the country and himself.
22 - Trump thinks evangelicals are idiots, chumps who can be manipulated because we're, in his mind, hyper-emotional followers of some sky wizard he knows nothing about. It was his recent speech in DC that confirmed this.
First, he bumbled through the issue of abortion for 3-4 minutes, repeating himself and talking about "making deals" on the issue. He's not seriously pro-life. He is not principled on any issue. His principles are for sale if the deal is right. In the recent interview with Meet the Press, he talked about wanting to apply the Art of the Deal to the arbitration of human life and it was SICK. Making a deal with Democrats on abortion means he will sell the prolife movement out on this issue. He didn't even push back on the lies of the interviewer who falsely asserted over and over that "no Democrat" wants late term abortion access.
Second, Trump told the audience that Melania was watching from home and that she called him about the persecution he is going through, but he has yet to explain why she is never with him anymore. He wanted evangelicals, who he believes are "suckers" for the concept of healthy marriages, to believe there is nothing wrong in his marriage when it is clear there is something wrong.
Third, Trump's team badly timed some hollywood-esque dramatic background music at the end of his speech and he faked a tragic hero act to swoon us, because he thinks we're all stupid saps who cry at Lifetime and Hallmark movies. Except, the timing of the music was off because he goes off script so much that the content he read had zero emotional value. He wasn't at the big closing, so the music and persecuted Trump act came off as awkward and manipulative. So, tell me evangelicals, are you as stupid as Trump believes you are?
23 – Trump is NOT the fantastic leader people make him out to be. Outside of a combative demeanor, maybe some courage and a ham-fisted level of delegation, he's mostly a barking entertainer. To this day, he NEVER admits his failures, he belittles people for any perceived slight or valid criticism, he lies about what he has said and his record, he praises and relates to despicable people, and he completely lacks the following leadership qualities: Communication, Empathy, Humility, Integrity, Emotional Intelligence, Creativity, Accountability, Learning agility, Self-awareness, Active Listening, Empowerment, Positivity, Honesty, Focus, Strategy, and the Courage to do what is right despite the political consequences.
24 – Trump has always been an unwise, gaffe-prone, ego feeding, insult machine, and though it can be entertaining when he angers all the right people, it can be deflating and even harmful when he makes everything about himself and criticizes the people who support him and the allies who America needs to support. Recent example - While it is true that Israel and Bibi failed to secure their borders and protect their citizens, Trump did NOT need to harp on this obvious failure 4 days after Israel’s 9/11 scale terrorist attack. He publicly criticized Bibi, the IDF Defense minister, and then showed respect to the enemy of Israel, Hezbollah, as “very smart.” The bodies of our 25 countrymen and 1300 allies were not even cold. American hostages remain un-rescued. Trump lacks wisdom. He lacks timing. He lacks leadership. He made a tragedy about his personal beef with Netanyahu, and that is disgusting.
Conclusion – For all of Trump’s failures as President, his challenges in getting elected and governing effectively, and his deep and pervasive personal flaws, Trump is NOT qualified to be our choice for President in 2024. Choosing a path for our country that includes Trump in any role of leadership will lead to the ruination of the GOP and to a trifecta of Democrat power and every leftist law imaginable.
The Only Choice — DeSantis has all the leadership traits in spades. He is a much, MUCH better option moving forward. He's not Mr. Personality, and he'll never match Trump in that regard. But he is an honest, competent, highly intelligent, effective, and principled leader. He can also serve 2 terms.
RD isn’t “bought” a “RINO” or a “globalist." Those people who try to use “guilt by association” ignore Trump’s associations with these same people WHILE he was in office and afterward (Ryan, Rove, Bush, etc.). Trump endorsed and is endorsed by numerous RINOs.
DeSantis, however, is a founding member of the Freedom Caucus who sold all his stock to avoid even the hint of impropriety. He rejected his Congressional pension because he believes government should be about selfless-service. He left Congress after three terms because he believes in term limits. He then became the best governor Florida has ever seen, delivering on every single promise. DeSantis is a family man and a fighter against false narratives. He’s also a 5-time winner who has done ALL he said he would do. He’s a relentless, shrewd administrator and leader who gives us the best chance to win and make a significant dent in the government bureaucracy.
The Presidency should not be a sepulchre for the aging politicians, family dynasties, statesmen, or even heroes of our time. The Presidency should not house the idols of our sports teams, films, or TV programs. The Presidency should not raise any man to the office who might be considered more than a man, any man who might be esteemed to be more than he is, just a man. The Presidency should be attained by a man who is willing to put country before self, who has the energy to work 80–90-hour weeks, who does what is objectively and morally right, no matter the cost. The Presidency should be given to a man who has proven his honesty, who has delivered on his promises, who has fought his enemies and won time and again, and who has led with competence, integrity, humility, empathy, and effectiveness through challenging times and crises. The Presidency should be given to Ron DeSantis. There has never been a clearer choice. It’s simply time to turn the page on Trump. We have a better option.
(Updated) Here are the Top 24 reasons most DeSantis supporters are done with Trump, even though nearly all of us voted for him twice:
1 - He didn't deliver on his frequent campaign refrains: "drain the swamp" or "build the wall and make Mexico pay for it" or "lock her up," despite his promises. The swamp got worse during his Presidency, remnants of the wall lay rusting along the border or have been sold off, and he let Hillary off the hook two weeks after taking office, saying the idea of it sold well before the election. Other Promises unkept: Trump DID NOT—Repeal the alternative minimum tax, Cut the number of tax brackets, End birthright citizenship, Enact 5-year ban on White House and congressional officials from lobbying, Impose death penalty for cop killers, Reverse China's entry into the World Trade Organization, Impose a hiring freeze on federal employees, Eliminate wasteful spending in every department, Place lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying for foreign government, Bring back manufacturing, Grow the economy by 4 percent a year, Add additional federal investment of $20 billion toward School Choice, Adopt the penny plan, Cancel all funding of sanctuary cities, Dramatically scale back the U.S. Education Department, Expand national right to carry to all 50 states (in fact, Trump went after the 2nd Amendment), Remove all undocumented immigrants, Eliminate gun-free zones at schools and military bases, Eliminate Common Core, Triple ICE enforcement, Get Congress to allow health insurance across state lines, Renegotiate the Iran deal, or Repeal and replace Obamacare, AND many other promises.
2 - He will be embroiled in legal troubles throughout the general campaign, will likely lose independents and the election, and I shudder to think what that does down ballot. BTW, he WILL be convicted in one or more of these cases. Getting a fair trial in a DC court if you are a republican or conservative is a unicorn. Trump is facing 4 criminal cases with 3 leftist jury pools in NY, DC, and Fulton County, GA. The idea he won’t be convicted is unbelievably naïve. Federal indictments have a 91+% success rate and Trump is facing two federal cases with multiple indictments. MAGA says they are all bogus and he will win on appeal. Again, this is incredibly naïve. The appeals process can take years and Trump would have to thread the needle on ALL of them to avoid prison time or house arrest.
But what does even one conviction mean to the GOP’s chances of winning the election? MAGA believes in “polls” now, so let’s go there. A Reuters poll in August suggests that Trump could lose up to 50% or more of Republican voters if Trump is convicted. That’s right, Republican voters. This idea that everyone outside of MAGA (other Republicans, Independents) would interpret a conviction like MAGA does, as political persecution, and vote Trump into office so that he could pardon himself, is ludicrous.
MAGA points to the current polls showing him in a virtual tie or leading Biden. Sure. These “polls” are 13 months from a general election. That's before the incessant drum beat for a whole year during the general, when ad after ad and the media attack Trump over these court cases and everything else. 35-40% of voters are indifferent, superficial, impressionable, or are currently not paying attention. Do you think it was an accident that the DC trial date is the day before Super Tuesday? These people know Trump’s empathy appeal spikes his polls and they’re counting on you to feel bad for him and make him the nominee. If a convicted Trump is our nominee, we lose everything. It's a trap. Don't fall for it.
3 - Even if he miraculously wins, he loses. He might pardon himself for the federal charges, but what about the state charges? How will that self-pardon play? “The first President to ever pardon himself.” Good luck in 2026 and 2028 with that narrative noose around our GOP necks. If Dems win the House, they will impeach him again for one or more of these phony charges. And what if he is actually guilty for even one of these charges? I think not, and I hope not, but what if he did even one of the things he’s indicted for? How does that sit with you? Either way, innocent or not, it won’t be resolved for years, and it won’t change the effect. Even if he’s cleared of all charges, he won't be able to govern because no agency will work with him knowing they can just wait him out. Congress won't either. Why would they work with a damaged President to fix anything? Good luck cleaning house when no one will work with you. Who is going to serve in a second Trump admin? His chief of staff was indicted in GA. What quality people are going to sign up to serve if Trump is going to engage in even one questionable act that may drag them down with him? It’s just reality. Are we winning one or both houses? Good luck passing legislation without both Houses. Ruling by Executive Orders like he did the first time will be a nice temporary relief, but you better stock up for the next Democrat in office. Trump will be a lame duck the moment he takes the oath.
4 - He's almost 80, and he looks all of it and unwell. He’s almost 80 and running for the most demanding job in the world. Don't complain about Biden's age and then elect Trump. Americans have been retired for nearly a decade at this point in their lives. Old people don’t decline at a steady rate. They decline rapidly. Instead of MAGA telling him, "Thank you. Well done. You exposed them. We got this. Retire and help us win," they're trying to martyr him and blow up the GOP in the process. Well, that isn't very bright. Unless you want to form your own viable party or tolerate the alternative, a leftist hellscape that used to be America, blowing up the GOP is not an option. The GOP isn't perfect, but it isn't homogenous, and it never will be. You must tolerate mushy moderates because 50+% of the country are NEVER going to be MAGA purists. I don’t want another octogenarian as President. Reagan had Alzheimer’s during his second term, Biden is a walking corpse. Not doing that again.
5 – Trump is not a good judge of character and frequently lets foxes in the henhouse if they stroke his ego.
6 – A very large number of people who worked with him and for him are not supporting him in 2024. In fact, 40 out of 44 cabinet members he hired are not supporting his 2024 bid. MAGA will say they are all losers or RINOs he exposed. To that, I say, it's unlikely that they are all bad people. But if they are, please see #5.
7 - He wasn't prepared when he took office and left hundreds of Obama holdovers in power. These same people undermined him and his administration. MAGA always points to the unprecedented level of attacks, internal “deep state” pushback, allegations, and unnamed sources within the government undermining him. They fail to realize, acknowledge, or accept that Trump allowed most of this to happen because he was incompetent and unprepared to handle the duties of President. If you leave leftists in power, they will torch you the first chance they get. He didn’t admit to these mistakes and change direction. Some big examples, Trump left Fauci, Wray, Barr, etc. in power even as they undermined him.
8 – No matter how he frames it and revises history, after Covid happened, he did everything Fauci and company wanted and signed whatever legislation Nancy Pelosi put in front of him, including the Cares Act, which turned out to be the biggest tool of the 2020 vote steal. Certainly, no one knew the severity or science that early on and he couldn’t have known how he was being lied to at the time, but he refused to remove Fauci from the task force, gave Fauci an award on the way out the door, and basically ceded the management of the country over to the medical swamp for most of the final year of his term. To this day, he also refuses to acknowledge his mistakes, defends the vax, falsely claims his vax has saved 100 million lives, falsely claims he couldn’t have removed Fauci, and constantly claims he did everything right.
9 – Trump spent us into oblivion during his first term. Sure, Covid happened, but he was running trillion dollar plus deficits every year before Covid. There wasn’t a single spending bill Trump didn’t sign. He bought farmer’s votes with subsidies, ran up almost 8 trillion dollars of debt (62% of which came before Covid), and failed again to live up to his campaign and administration promises. You can't print/spend/borrow 7.8 trillion and NOT also expect eventual inflation, higher interest rates, and a devalued dollar. Look at your gas prices and grocery bill. Obama, Trump, and Biden DID THAT.
10 – Trump had the WH, House, and Senate his first two years and failed to replace Obamacare. He failed to permanently secure the border, because Executive Orders don’t last and the wall, finished or not, clearly doesn’t work on its own. He failed to address term limits in Congress. He failed to drain the swamp even one millimeter, which is probably the biggest, most impactful failure of all. He ruled by Executive Orders his whole Presidency, which Biden trash canned his first day in office. The ONLY policies/deeds of significance that remain from his Presidency are his court appointments that he picked from list that was handed to him and tax cuts that are about to expire and contributed to his 7.8 trillion-dollar debt spending.
11 - His obsession with loyalty always seems to be a one-way street, especially if it means that his money is involved (i.e., J6ers, Rudy G, K. Mac, those indicted with him, etc.). These people “bled” for him and he trashes them or refuses to help them. He could have helped pay for non-violent J6er’s defense, or he could have at least visited them in prison, or he could have used his contacts to possibly make a difference in their treatment, or perhaps even showed some meaningful public support for them. He did NOTHING. To this day, he’s DONE NOTHING. What he DID DO on January 6th: He held the rally in DC. He said J6ers should march to the capital. He worked them up into a frenzy with the belief that their election had been stolen (without mentioning in that speech that he himself initiated the biggest piece of the steal, his Cares Act). He then went out the next day and publicly called them criminals. He ultimately raised 250 million off the “Stop the Steal” campaign after the election and spent ZERO dollars to help pay for the legal expenses J6ers faced.
12 - His "airing of grievances," court cases, and whole focus is on the past. I'm not interested in the past. Was it stolen? Even if you discount the suitcases under benches and trucks rolling in at 3 AM, state secretaries changed the rules without their legislatures and the media/gov/social media suppressed the HB laptop story, so YES, it was stolen. But, Trump lost, even enabling the instruments of that loss (Cares Act), he didn't protect the elections, and whether it was stolen or not, crooked Joe Biden is in the WH. Trump was in charge and he let it happen.
13 - Trump DOES NOT have the ability to engage in meaningful exchanges where he explains and sells his choices, policies, comments, and governing philosophy. He doesn't fight the narratives festering around him. Calling it "fake news," while true, is not an adequate defense to keep the proposed narrative from defining you. You must attack the narrative and the premises under it with logic, reason, and voracity. If you dismantle the narrative or the argument or the loaded reporter question, you stop the media and democrats from selling their crap to the public. Trump is either unwilling or incapable of doing this, and doing this is extremely integral to getting legislation passed and winning elections.
14 - He regularly punches down at people and engages in petty battles that mean nothing. The list of people and organizations Trump has needlessly attacked using the public platform of his Presidency and 2024 candidacy because of his personal beefs and perceived slights to his ego is too long to list here.
15 - He doesn't deserve the nomination if he's unwilling to earn it. He is not owed anything. There is no such thing as "his turn." This isn’t a monarchy. Candidates who throw their hat into the ring are NOT “disloyal.” Skipping debates because of 'polling numbers' is entitled and indicative of someone who is afraid to defend his record or defend his reasons for seeking a second term. He is not even campaigning more than a few times a month. He spends his days golfing and rage truthing and making dozens of ludicrous video mini speeches, as if he’s still President.
16 - He's a clever politician, entertainer, marketer, and businessman, but his positions and principles are often for sale if the deal is right.
17 - He is woefully arrogant and makes every accomplishment or criticism about himself. He rarely says "we," and that says a lot.
18 - His campaign is tangentially about the future, but that's not the main thrust of it. His campaign is mostly about revenge and his ego, not the good of the country. If he was thinking solely about the country, he would drop out, handle his legal woes, and help us do what he was unable to do.
19 - Ultra MAGA, his cult following, not the persuadable, is nothing more than an identity group engaging in identity politics. They are an identity group, just like BLM, feminists, LGBTQ, etc. They held up Trump as their champion because they felt disenfranchised, marginalized, and oppressed, and Trump was the force they put forward to tear it all down. At first, like many identity groups, there was validity to many of their grievances. The working class had been forgotten, the system was and is not working on their behalf. But unlike most identity groups, they wanted the existing system to begin working for them. They wanted a course correction. However, like ALL identity groups, their impetus changed and devolved into something darker and delusional. Ultra MAGA wants to tear it all down. They want a system that is right in their own eyes. They want to abandon the rule of law and exact "justice" on their own terms. Where their interests and the Constitution align, they embrace it. Where it doesn't, they ignore it. Ultra MAGA embraces and employs the tactics of leftists now. They are now what these other identity groups always were, militant grievance hustlers who ignore truth and morality and reality to serve their own ends. Trump is their vehicle, their champion, because he is the embodiment of their moral evolution. He was in 2016 what they've become in 2023.
If this battle is not about realistic policy goals and re-constitutionalizing our government, and it's about name-calling, tearing down proven conservatives and good people, and constantly lobbing hate and false accusations, we deserve to lose. We are no better than the leftists who do it.
20 - While the "listless vessel" comment hurt Trump’s cult of personality voters, DeSantis wasn't wrong, and it needed to be said. This isn’t name calling. It’s just the objective truth. Some of these Trump supporters act like he’s second only to Christ himself and no matter what he says or does, they defend it. They “feel” Trump. Trump is their persecuted, post-modern Jesus, a relativistic elixir salesman promising miracles, so they’ll find any excuse to validate their support and vote for him, even if he’s not worthy of it. I’m not sure where this comes from. Perhaps these devotees relate to his defiant demeanor, his grievance politics, because they too feel like victims of this economy and society and life in general, and they live vicariously through his full-throated “screw you” to the world. But it’s a cloud, some fog they all live in. Trump is not coming on a white horse to vanquish all their real and perceived enemies. He’s not going to deal some great vengeance on the deep state or lock all these bad actors up, for all the reasons I have already mentioned. Re-capturing our freedoms and our country can't be about one man.
21 – Where is Melania? Where is his wife? Between the court cases and his family, Trump has more pressing matters to attend to. His ego needs to take a back seat and he needs to step down for the good of the country and himself.
22 - Trump thinks evangelicals are idiots, chumps who can be manipulated because we're, in his mind, hyper-emotional followers of some sky wizard he knows nothing about. It was his recent speech in DC that confirmed this.
First, he bumbled through the issue of abortion for 3-4 minutes, repeating himself and talking about "making deals" on the issue. He's not seriously pro-life. He is not principled on any issue. His principles are for sale if the deal is right. In the recent interview with Meet the Press, he talked about wanting to apply the Art of the Deal to the arbitration of human life and it was SICK. Making a deal with Democrats on abortion means he will sell the prolife movement out on this issue. He didn't even push back on the lies of the interviewer who falsely asserted over and over that "no Democrat" wants late term abortion access.
Second, Trump told the audience that Melania was watching from home and that she called him about the persecution he is going through, but he has yet to explain why she is never with him anymore. He wanted evangelicals, who he believes are "suckers" for the concept of healthy marriages, to believe there is nothing wrong in his marriage when it is clear there is something wrong.
Third, Trump's team badly timed some hollywood-esque dramatic background music at the end of his speech and he faked a tragic hero act to swoon us, because he thinks we're all stupid saps who cry at Lifetime and Hallmark movies. Except, the timing of the music was off because he goes off script so much that the content he read had zero emotional value. He wasn't at the big closing, so the music and persecuted Trump act came off as awkward and manipulative. So, tell me evangelicals, are you as stupid as Trump believes you are?
23 – Trump is NOT the fantastic leader people make him out to be. Outside of a combative demeanor, maybe some courage and a ham-fisted level of delegation, he's mostly a barking entertainer. To this day, he NEVER admits his failures, he belittles people for any perceived slight or valid criticism, he lies about what he has said and his record, he praises and relates to despicable people, and he completely lacks the following leadership qualities: Communication, Empathy, Humility, Integrity, Emotional Intelligence, Creativity, Accountability, Learning agility, Self-awareness, Active Listening, Empowerment, Positivity, Honesty, Focus, Strategy, and the Courage to do what is right despite the political consequences.
24 – Trump has always been an unwise, gaffe-prone, ego feeding, insult machine, and though it can be entertaining when he angers all the right people, it can be deflating and even harmful when he makes everything about himself and criticizes the people who support him and the allies who America needs to support. Recent example - While it is true that Israel and Bibi failed to secure their borders and protect their citizens, Trump did NOT need to harp on this obvious failure 4 days after Israel’s 9/11 scale terrorist attack. He publicly criticized Bibi, the IDF Defense minister, and then showed respect to the enemy of Israel, Hezbollah, as “very smart.” The bodies of our 25 countrymen and 1300 allies were not even cold. American hostages remain un-rescued. Trump lacks wisdom. He lacks timing. He lacks leadership. He made a tragedy about his personal beef with Netanyahu, and that is disgusting.
Conclusion – For all of Trump’s failures as President, his challenges in getting elected and governing effectively, and his deep and pervasive personal flaws, Trump is NOT qualified to be our choice for President in 2024. Choosing a path for our country that includes Trump in any role of leadership will lead to the ruination of the GOP and to a trifecta of Democrat power and every leftist law imaginable.
The Only Choice — DeSantis has all the leadership traits in spades. He is a much, MUCH better option moving forward. He's not Mr. Personality, and he'll never match Trump in that regard. But he is an honest, competent, highly intelligent, effective, and principled leader. He can also serve 2 terms.
RD isn’t “bought” a “RINO” or a “globalist." Those people who try to use “guilt by association” ignore Trump’s associations with these same people WHILE he was in office and afterward (Ryan, Rove, Bush, etc.). Trump endorsed and is endorsed by numerous RINOs.
DeSantis, however, is a founding member of the Freedom Caucus who sold all his stock to avoid even the hint of impropriety. He rejected his Congressional pension because he believes government should be about selfless-service. He left Congress after three terms because he believes in term limits. He then became the best governor Florida has ever seen, delivering on every single promise. DeSantis is a family man and a fighter against false narratives. He’s also a 5-time winner who has done ALL he said he would do. He’s a relentless, shrewd administrator and leader who gives us the best chance to win and make a significant dent in the government bureaucracy.
The Presidency should not be a sepulchre for the aging politicians, family dynasties, statesmen, or even heroes of our time. The Presidency should not house the idols of our sports teams, films, or TV programs. The Presidency should not raise any man to the office who might be considered more than a man, any man who might be esteemed to be more than he is, just a man. The Presidency should be attained by a man who is willing to put country before self, who has the energy to work 80–90-hour weeks, who does what is objectively and morally right, no matter the cost. The Presidency should be given to a man who has proven his honesty, who has delivered on his promises, who has fought his enemies and won time and again, and who has led with competence, integrity, humility, empathy, and effectiveness through challenging times and crises. The Presidency should be given to Ron DeSantis. There has never been a clearer choice. It’s simply time to turn the page on Trump. We have a better option.