With public opinion polls showing him continuing to drop in popularity among likely Republican voters. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis now appears to be ramping up his attacks against former President Donald Trump, and his loyal MAGA base of support.
As The Floridian first reported, the newest post-indictment polls conducted after a Fulton County, Georgia state attorney filed state RICO charges against President Trump, show that 71% of Republicans surveyed believed all the indictments are politically motivate.
PresidentTrump has jumped up as many as 9% in the latest CBS News/YouGov and Emerson polls.
DeSantis may have sealed his own fate and crossed the line of no return with many Republicans voters by directly questioning their support for President Trump, which could be part of a bigger anti-MAGA narrative that his presidential campaign is pushing.
Christina Pushaw, DeSantis's controversial and loose-lipped Rapid Response director, has also been referring to members of Congress who have endorsed Trump as "Magadonians" and "MAGA" Republicans, much like Progressive Democrats have used the acronym to demean all Republicans.
"Maga congressman / former Trump admin official. Maybe he and the Maga mask tyrant from Miami can get together and talk about liberties," stated Pushaw in tweet last week.
Democrats like Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has also used the "MAGA" acronym to attack Republicans in general.
During an interview last week, Gov. DeSantis jabbed at the former president’s congressional endorsees like Reps. Cory Mills, Matt Gaetz, and Byron Donalds, referring to them and Trump’s supporters as “listless vessels” for continuing to support the former president over him.
DeSantis also stated that some members of Congress who have endorsed Trump have “incredibly liberal left-wing records.”
“So there will be people who are huge Trump supporters, like in Congress, who have incredibly liberal left-wing records that is really just atrocious, and yet they're viewed by some of these folks as like, really, really good. Then you have other people, you know, like a Congressman Chip Roy, who has endorsed me, Congressman Thomas Massie. These guys have records of principle fighting the swamp that are second to none. And yet, they will be attacked by some of these people and called RINOs. So it's just been totally detached from any type of substance. And ultimately, a movement can't be about the personality of one individual. The movement has got to be about what are you trying to achieve on behalf of the American people? And that's got to be based in principle. Because if you're not rooted in principle, if all we are is listless vessels that are just supposed to follow whatever happens to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that's not going to be a durable movement,” said Gov. DeSantis
DeSantis compares the conservative voting records of Reps. Chip Roy and Thomas Massie, both of who have endorsed his presidential campaign, to those who have endorsed Trump.
According to Heritage Action for America, one of the leading conservative groups in the nation, most of Trump’s presidential endorsees score well above 80%.
Heritage rates Rep. Roy as having a 84% conservative rating while Rep. Massie scores as dismal 49% rating.
Rep. Massie recently voted against the Secure the Border Act.
As for the Trump endorsees, here are how the Florida delegation ranks:
100%—Rep. Greg Steube
100%—Rep. Anna Paulina Luna
100%—Rep. Michael Waltz
98%—Rep. Vern Buchanan
98%—Rep. Brian Mast
98%—Rep. Byron Donalds
98%—Rep. Cory Mills
84%—Rep. Carlos Gimenez
84%—Rep. Daniel Webster
84%—Rep. Matt Gaetz
82%—Rep. Gus Bilirakis
82%—Rep. John Rutherford
DeSantis and seven other Republican presidential candidates will take part in the first debate of the 2024 election cycle.
Trump will not attend the debate.