Hide the pudding cups because Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is going to want to reach his fingers into a few after reading The New York Times report on his poor performance in the latest polls.
DeSantis, who’s struggled to define himself in the buildup to the Republican primaries as anything more than Donald Trump’s deflated punching bag, is now facing the cold hard truth of his waning popularity — in graph form. According to the Times, DeSantis has “steadily lost ground against Mr. Trump, whose own numbers have increased.” In one poll, Trump had a double-digit lead on his former ally while a broader survey of polls over the past two months shows a widening gap amongst the Republican frontrunners that’s not in DeSantis’ favor.
“It’s the trend that’s important, and the trend is unequivocal: Every single one of these polls has shown Mr. DeSantis faring worse than before, and Mr. Trump faring better,” the Times reports.
There are a few reasons for DeSantis’ fall from grace. While Trump has been testing out increasingly insulting nicknames for the Florida governor in the press — “Meatball Ron,” and “Ron DeSanctimonious” and “Tiny D” are his current favorites — DeSantis has yet to clap back, or even announce his 2024 Presidential Bid. Some worry he won’t be able to confront Trump on specific issues or put up much of a fight without alienating a large subset of the Republican base. Then there are the increasing number of headlines calling into question whether DeSantis is fit for office. His views on the war in Ukraine — he sees it as a “territorial dispute” — his relationships with teenage girls when he was a high school teacher, his wet blanket personality, and the insane way he eats pudding by hand (not one, not two, but three fingers?) have all contributed to his “weird divorced dad” energy that many voters find off-putting.
His treatment of the transgender community, his human trafficking gimmicks, and his commitment to gutting Florida’s educational system to make way for white supremacist lesson plans are also off-putting and asshole-ish, to say the least, but somehow we think it’s the fact that he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy you want to have a beer with is what will be his downfall with conservatives.
(Via NYT)