DeSantis hits Trump below the belt. Will this new strategy work?

[corbe]

DeSantis hits Trump below the belt. Will this new strategy work?

by Mabinty Quarshie, National Politics Correspondent
November 03, 2023 01:21 PM

For months, Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has been more willing to attack former President Donald Trump in their escalating 2024 primary race. But this week marked a new level of just how far the Florida governor's campaign is willing to go in his battle against Trump and the rest of the GOP presidential field.

DeSantis has begun taunting Trump over skipping the Republican National Committee-sponsored primary debates in response to Trump's recent provocations. "If Donald Trump can summon the balls to show up to the debate, I'll wear a boot on my head," DeSantis told Newsmax in an interview this week. His campaign is also selling golf balls that say, "Ron DeSantis has a pair. He shows up."

The former president, in turn, has mocked DeSantis, his closest 2024 competitor, over allegations the cowboy boots the governor frequently wears while campaigning have hidden heels that boost his height. But DeSantis's willingness to hit back at Trump with references to his manhood marks a newer and riskier strategy for DeSantis ahead of next week's debate in Miami, Florida, and the Iowa caucuses in January.

The Trump campaign, in the meantime, is undeterred by DeSantis's mockery. "DeSantis’s campaign is now mired in the mud and spending their entire day responding to what we’re doing. They fell right into the trap," Steven Cheung, Trump's spokesman, told the Washington Examiner. "Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is releasing new Agenda47 policy proposals and making the case against Crooked Joe Biden. DeSantis's offering to wear a boot on his head just shows how desperate and pathetic he is. He might as well wear a dog collar with a leash and run alongside golf carts."

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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/desantis-mocks-trump-below-belt

[mountaineer]

Tempting thought it may be, please don't stoop to his level, Governor.

[Wingnut]

Or the queen of the Trump leg humpers, our very own ***.  A sad little girl.

Please not tonight..

Would tonight be better?

[jafo2010]

Why should Trump waste his time?  This field is no competition for him.  DeSantis is wasting his time.  Only reason to stay in is in the event he has a Robert Kennedy repeat event and gets sent to the other side, otherwise, he should focus on 2028.

Dems are going to fix the election again, so it really does not matter.

[catfish1957]

No hitting below the belt is needed.

Just campaign ads 24/7 with footage citing Tumpy's (1) call for Freedom Cities (2) Free  College in his new silly America Academy and (3) biting graphics showing Tump out budget deficit-ing every POTUS .

Secondly,  hammer Tumpy on his character in evangelical demographic area.  I mean adding the worst of his nasty character.

I mean freakin' wall to wall...... And put this son of a bitch in the dust bin for good.   Ron...make me campaign manager and I will finish Tumpy off.  We will out- Stone-Pecker his ass if we have to.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Tempting thought it may be, please don't stoop to his level, Governor.

Particularly in the low-class sexual euphemisms.

I’m so sick of public discourse based on male sexual obsession.  It’s no longer just for movies and TV shows.

[Sighlass]

Tempting thought it may be, please don't stoop to his level, Governor.

I want to agree, but it seems the electorate only likes dumb slogan throwing populace crapola and not whether it proofed by a proven conservative past actions.

[LMAO]

I want to agree, but it seems the electorate only likes dumb slogan throwing populace crapola and not whether it proofed by a proven conservative past actions.

I don’t know if it applies to the electorate at large

But it certainly applies to the MAGA  and the “Hope and Change” crowd

[sneakypete]

Why should Trump waste his time?  This field is no competition for him.  DeSantis is wasting his time.  Only reason to stay in is in the event he has a Robert Kennedy repeat event and gets sent to the other side, otherwise, he should focus on 2028.

Dems are going to fix the election again, so it really does not matter.

@jafo2010

I think he pretty much  blew 2028 out the window with  this run. If he  had just kept his mouth shut and concentrated on Florida,he would have probably been a serious contender in 2028,but  he  let his  ego and his advisors overrule  common sense.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

This is the way the MAGA crowd wants our politics to look from here on forward.  They think its funny.

I don't, and I'll be quite happy to see the MAGA movement on the ashheap of history in a few years.

[Fishrrman]

No.
It won't work for him.
He'll end up slipping another point or two downward.

[sneakypete]

This is the way the MAGA crowd wants our politics to look from here on forward.  They think its funny.

I don't, and I'll be quite happy to see the MAGA movement on the ashheap of history in a few years.

@Maj. Bill Martin

Listen to yourself. You are now so desperate  you are blaming the DeSanctimonious political failure on Trump.

Did Trump tell him what to say and how to act?

Is there ANYTHING that isn't Trump's fault?

[sneakypete]

No.
It won't work for him.
He'll end up slipping another point or two downward.

@Fishrrman

Well,to be fair,it's not like losing  a couple more points is going  to hurt him at this point.

[libertybele]

This is the way the MAGA crowd wants our politics to look from here on forward.  They think its funny.

I don't, and I'll be quite happy to see the MAGA movement on the ashheap of history in a few years.

Those that controlled the election last time will continue to do so. What's changed?

The MAGA movement will stop once people realize that they aren't going to let Trump get the nomination and/or keep him off the ballot in several states so he has no path forward to victory. 

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Those that controlled the election last time will continue to do so. What's changed?

The MAGA movement will stop once people realize that they aren't going to let Trump get the nomination and/or keep him off the ballot in several states so he has no path forward to victory.

Nah - the MAGAs will follow him right to the end.  Some of the rest of his support may falter, but the MAGA's won't.

Also, huge chunks of primary delegates will already be apportioned before those verdicts come in anyway, and it will be too late to change.

[Right_in_Virginia]

This is the way the MAGA crowd wants our politics to look from here on forward.  They think its funny.

I don't, and I'll be quite happy to see the MAGA movement on the ashheap of history in a few years.

GAETZ: “The Make America Great Again  movement is ascendant. President Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States.” (Video)

https://twitter.com/alx/status/1720938990042292485

[sneakypete]

Those that controlled the election last time will continue to do so. What's changed?

The MAGA movement will stop once people realize that they aren't going to let Trump get the nomination and/or keep him off the ballot in several states so he has no path forward to victory.

@libertybele

And NONE of you anti-Trumpers seem to be upset about  this,DESPITE the FACT that if they can  pull  this off on Trump,then they can pull it off on any or ALL future non-regulation candidates.

The FACT that Trump has the panties of the entire establishment all wound up in a knot is all the reason *I* need to continue to support him.

[jmyrlefuller]

Those that controlled the election last time will continue to do so. What's changed?

The MAGA movement will stop once people realize that they aren't going to let Trump get the nomination and/or keep him off the ballot in several states so he has no path forward to victory.

It'll be over when Trump dies. It's a cult of personality, like Huey Long.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

GAETZ: “The Make America Great Again  movement is ascendant. President Donald Trump will be the next President of the United States.” (Video)

Yeah, about that....

Even if it happened, it wouldn't matter anyway.

He can't build coalitions, too many capable people will want nothing to do with him, and he'd be a lame duck from the moment he is elected.  Like every other President, his second term will be less consequential than his first.

More importantly, his movement will crumble the moment he's gone, just like Perot's and Buchanan's.

[libertybele]

@libertybele

And NONE of you anti-Trumpers seem to be upset about  this,DESPITE the FACT that if they can  pull  this off on Trump,then they can pull it off on any or ALL future non-regulation candidates.

The FACT that Trump has the panties of the entire establishment all wound up in a knot is all the reason *I* need to continue to support him.

@sneakypete absolutely I upset that the election was stolen, that impeachments were bogus, the Russian collusion was a joke and J6 was orchestrated by Pence and Pelosi. 

Yes, if they can do it to Trump they will do it to anyone.  Why isn't Rona the glorious leader of the RNC not doing anything, nor anyone in Congress.  The only thing that can be done is individuals becoming precinct captains -- however, the DNC played dirty, they'll do it again.

You can support him and I understand why -- but what I am trying to convey is MEGA support isn't going to be enough. 

My question is once they're done with Trump, then what is the GOP going to do?? Haley??  I believe DeSantis is falling, so he's not the option that I was hoping for.

They are keeping Trump and his lawyers busy and attempting to drain his bank account.

Trump shouldn't have gone after the GOP candidates -- he should have gone after Joe.  DeSantis and Haley are hanging in the wind now. 

He should have learned long ago that it was important to bring the party together, not splinter it further.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

@sneakypete
He should have learned long ago that it was important to bring the party together, not splinter it further.

It's not a question of Trump not learning -- it's a question of him not caring.  This whole thing since June 2015 has been nothing other than a massive ego trip for him, and he's running because he doesn't want it to end.   And he's not one of those guys who just has to build himself up in the eyes of others.  He's a guy who has to tear down anyone else who make take some of the limelight away from him.

Trump's ego would love to see the GOP fall apart without him, because that would just prove how important he was.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Yeah, about that....

Even if it happened, it wouldn't matter anyway.

He can't build coalitions

Who the hell wants coalitions with the Uniparty ----  other than you, of course?

[Right_in_Virginia]

It's not a question of Trump not learning -- it's a question of him not caring.  This whole thing since June 2015 has been nothing other than a massive ego trip for him, and he's running because he doesn't want it to end.

 

[Sighlass]

Who the hell wants coalitions with the Uniparty ----  other than you, of course?

Who the heck knows where Trump stands with anyone, it all depends if they smiled at him that day. From Kim (North Korea) to Putin to Nancy Pelosi...  at one point or another, he has defended/supported them. They likely wouldn't pee on him if he was on fire, but yet he supported Pelosi for house chair. Hillary has been though enough...

Like I said, Trump would support anything he thinks will put his ego on a pedestal.

[sneakypete]

It's not a question of Trump not learning -- it's a question of him not caring.  This whole thing since June 2015 has been nothing other than a massive ego trip for him, and he's running because he doesn't want it to end.   And he's not one of those guys who just has to build himself up in the eyes of others.  He's a guy who has to tear down anyone else who make take some of the limelight away from him.

Trump's ego would love to see the GOP fall apart without him, because that would just prove how important he was.

@Maj. Bill Martin

@sneakypete
He should have learned long ago that it was important to bring the party together, not splinter it further.

I don't know where you got that crap from,but it  wasn't  from me.