NEW YORK (AP) \u2014\u00a0Ron DeSantis\u00a0\u2019 entry into the 2024 White House race against\u00a0former President Donald Trump\u00a0sets up a clash of the Republican Party\u2019s two leading figures as the Florida governor attempts to topple a man who has dominated the GOP for the last seven years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump, who has established himself as the clear front-runner for the Republican nomination, has spent the months since he\u00a0launched his own campaign\u00a0working to hobble the once-ascendant DeSantis, whom he and his team have long viewed as his most serious challenger. DeSantis so far has tried to remain above the fray, ignoring Trump\u2019s escalating attacks on everything from his record to his personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe campaign is about to get a lot more intense. He can\u2019t just lay low in Tallahassee signing bills,\u201d said GOP strategist Alex Conant of DeSantis\u2019 strategy. \u201cNow he has to hit the campaign trail, take media questions and punch back at his opponents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But DeSantis,\u00a0during a series of events Wednesday night launching his campaign, took only veiled swipes at his chief rival without mentioning him by name. It is a strategy reminiscent of 2016, when Trump\u2019s army of Republican rivals failed to go after the candidate directly for fear of alienating his supporters and assumed \u2014 wrongly \u2014 that he would flame out on his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is no substitute for victory. We must end the culture of losing that has infected the Republican Party in recent years,\u201d DeSantis said on a Twitter Spaces debut that was\u00a0plagued by technical difficulties. \u201cWe must look forward, not backwards,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an interview later with Fox News, he said he believed all candidates should participate in the planned GOP primary debates, which Trump has threatened to boycott. \u201cNobody\u2019s entitled to anything in this world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rollout made clear that, at least for the time being, DeSantis intends to leave the dirty work of attacking Trump to his allies, who see openings that they plan to exploit, particularly on policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that he\u2019s officially in the race, DeSantis\u2019 well-funded super PAC is poised to intensify its attacks against the former president. His team plans to focus on policy differences between the two Republicans, making the case that Trump has \u201clurched left\u201d on some issues \u2014 most notably, abortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to amplify him and his voice, and when necessary, contrast with the former president. But right now that contrast is really one is lurching left and one is fighting,\u201d said David Polyansky, senior adviser to the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DeSantis\u2019 team believes Trump is particularly vulnerable with Republican primary voters on abortion. Although the former president appointed the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, he has drawn the ire of anti-abortion activists by refusing to say whether he supports a federal ban on the procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Trump has openly suggested that Republican candidates\u2019 hard-line stances led to GOP losses in last fall\u2019s midterms, DeSantis has leaned in even further on the issue, signing a six-week abortion ban in Florida \u2014 before most women know they are pregnant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DeSantis and his backers must tread carefully: In order to win the nomination, he will need to assemble a coalition that includes both Trump critics and supporters. DeSantis risks alienating a large swath of the party if he goes after Trump too forcefully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Acknowledging the challenge, DeSantis\u2019 super PAC plans to steer clear of criticism directly related to Trump\u2019s many legal entanglements. The Florida governor himself was stung earlier in the spring when he took a swipe at Trump, instead of defending him, following his New York indictment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump, meanwhile, has spent months relentlessly attacking DeSantis, nicknaming him \u201cRon DeSanctimonious\u201d and subjecting him to a daily onslaught of criticism on his Truth Social app and in ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has repeatedly called out the Florida governor\u2019s votes to cut Social Security and Medicare when he served in Congress, arguing his record will make him unelectable in a general election. He has tried to undermine DeSantis\u2019 success as governor of Florida, claiming the state was \u201cdoing GREAT long before Ron DeSanctus got there.\u201d And he has pointed to the crime rate in some of the state\u2019s large cities and criticized DeSantis\u2019 handling of the COVID-19 pandemic \u2014 the issue that made DeSantis a conservative star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond policy, Trump has attacked DeSantis\u2019 character \u2014 accusing him of being \u201cdisloyal\u201d after Trump helped DeSantis win his 2018 gubernatorial primary \u2014 and saying he \u201cdesperately needs a personality transplant and, to the best of my knowledge, they are not medically available yet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump has also veered into deeply personal attacks, suggesting that DeSantis \u201cmight face allegations from \u201ca woman, even classmates that are \u2018underage\u2019 (or possibly a man!)\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s allied super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., has already spent millions on anti-DeSantis ads, and the group has no plans to change its strategy, given the fact that it has been treating DeSantis like a candidate for months already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRon DeSantis\u2019 failed campaign launch is just another example that he\u2019s not ready for this critical moment,\u201d said spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer. \u201cVoters don\u2019t yet know Ron DeSantis, but they\u2019ll find out he has a record of targeting Social Security, trying to raise taxes, and voting against border wall funding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So far the effort appears to have paid off. Polls suggest Trump\u2019s support has only grown since earlier this year, while the appetite for DeSantis as an alternative has faded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DeSantis\u2019 team largely dismisses Trump\u2019s early polling advantage given that the Florida governor only just became an official candidate. DeSantis said Wednesday he was prepared for the onslaught he faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can call me whatever you want. Just call me a winner,\u201d DeSantis said on Fox News. \u201cThere will be slings and arrows. I\u2019m a big boy. I can take it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Republican donor Dan Eberhart, who donated millions to Trump but is now supporting DeSantis, argued that Trump\u2019s continued attacks make clear the former president still sees DeSantis as a threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTrump\u2019s fixation with DeSantis is proof that the Florida governor is a serious contender,\u201d he wrote in an email. \u201cThe former president spent more money attacking Gov. DeSantis before he was even a candidate than Trump did helping Republicans last cycle. Trump\u2019s biggest fear just came true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some voters, meanwhile, continue to have trouble reconciling the feud between two men who were once allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wina Fernandez, who lives in Miami, said she\u2019d prefer DeSantis and Trump run together on the same ticket, with DeSantis serving four years as vice president and then running for president in 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would just love them as president and vice president. That would be an amazing thing. I would go out to the street and dance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if she had to choose, she said, she would choose Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of drama involving Trump. However, he started this movement. He started it all,\u201d she said. \u201cDeSantis is young, and he still has time to work on things.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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