@Maj. Bill Martin
Yes.
What do you call it?
If he will do that to the man that was the most help in putting him into office,what will he do to thee and me?
@sneakypete Honest question here - to whom does a political leader owe their primary loyalty - to other politicians who have done them favors, or to the country/people as a whole?
Because
if DeSantis believes that Trump would not be the right candidate for the GOP in 2024 (as do a lot of other Republicans), then for him to put personal loyalty to Trump ahead of what is good for the country would be reprehensible.
However, to the extent you think DeSantis owed Trump "something", I would say that he repaid that debt by supporting Trump for President in 2020, and delivering Florida's electoral votes to Trump. So even under the "DeSantis owed Trump" rationale, I'd say that made them even.
But even if you think DeSantis should still "owe" Trump even after supporting him in 2020, that vanished the moment Trump started trashing DeSantis publicly before the 2022 midterms. Given the terrible things Trump has said about DeSantis for the last six months, starting even before DeSantis' 2022 race, DeSantis would be a huge chump if he then turned around and kissed the butt of the guy who has been insulting him.
If Trump wanted to attack DeSantis as disloyal, he should have waited to trash him until
after DeSantis declared. Because by attacking DeSantis
before he declared, Trump himself has justified DeSantis treating him not just as an opponent, but as a bitter enemy.
If DeSantis can't win it, destroying Trump should be his fallback goal at this point. And Trump will have earned it because of what he has said publicly about DeSantis beginning before DeSantis even won reelection.