A former Republican Representative said Ron DeSantis can’t beat Donald Trump because he runs the same campaign. Carlos Curbelo told MSNBC that DeSantis won the Governor’s mansion in the Sunshine State by emulating Trump, but this method doesn’t work when the voters can vote for the real Donald Trump. “It’s very hard to use someone’s playbook against him,” Curbelo said.
He explained that the Floridian’s team seems to believe they can steal Trump’s base by modeling DeSantis on the former President, but “that’s not how things work.”
Governor DeSantis has placed great focus on the border and immigration, as Donald Trump did in the run-up to 2016. DeSantis has taken the position early on that he will do what Trump promised but failed to deliver. During one of his earliest campaign speeches in New Hampshire, DeSantis said, “We will finally, after years and years of discussions and Republicans complaining about it, we will finally be the administration to bring this border issue to a conclusion. We are going to shut the border down, we are going to build the border wall.”
Trump describes DeSantis as unlikeable and disloyal and openly mocks his campaign. He refers to the Governor as Ron DeSanctimonious and Ron DeSaster. A reporter asked DeSantis recently if he would consider running alongside Trump for Vice President, and he said no, he’s “not a number two guy.” Trump’s team responded with venom, saying DeSantis is “just a guy, Ron is just there, sullen and sad, because his numbers are as tiny as him.”
The race between the two men is increasingly vicious, but Trump remains the clear frontrunner, and poll results are consistent and unchanging. The latest polls show Trump retaining the commanding lead he has held throughout. A YouGov survey for The Economist between July 8 and 11 sees the former President at 49%, with DeSantis trailing far behind at 20%. A general election poll places Trump neck and neck with President Biden.
