The last congressional elections did not result in a landslide victory for the Republicans. Many of the candidates backed by Trump performed worse than he had hoped. But this has not affected Trump’s determination to run for the US presidency again – something he may announce as early as November 15
However, many Republicans have begun to look towards Ron Desantis as a potentially more promising candidate than Trump. Desantis is much younger – and can meet voters’ demand for a generational shift in American politics.
He knows how to wage culture wars more effectively than Trump against the Democrats. Desantis has begun introducing patriotic education in Florida schools – and has limited LGBT propaganda among students. He fights the imposition of a “racial-gender” agenda and bans “transgender” participation in women’s sports. And deports illegal migrants to liberal states.
By the same token, Desantis managed to get re-elected governor of Florida by a staggering 19% margin over the Democrats. But Trump claims that he made Desantis a rising star – and now he is showing disloyalty by his behaviour. But Desantis went into politics back in 2012 – and represented the Tea Party movement, championing conservative values long before Trump.
Now Trump has also “revealed” that he allegedly helped Desantis avoid defeat in the 2018 gubernatorial election – by sending FBI agents to polling stations to prevent mail-in ballots from being thrown in for Democrats. However, no evidence of this has been presented.
The Republicans are heading for a long and bloody battle in the primaries between Trump and Desantis. But this could be a good thing for the party. Often such battles help the winning candidate gain strength and experience – and then make it easier for him to win the presidential election.
Malek Dudakov