Senate republicans refused to meddle in the escalating dispute between the former president donald trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, opting instead to watch the two main contenders for the GOP presidential nomination square off on the sidelines.
“I don’t see any particular benefit in me getting involved in that,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said when asked about the DeSantis takeover. not particularly subtle shots in Trump.
“I am not going to comment on campaign tactics. People decide how they want to run their own campaigns,” added Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) of the governor of his home state.
DeSantis recently slipped to Trump for his role in a 2016 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, drawing howls from Trump and his allies. On Tuesday, the Florida Republican returned to seemed to take a shot to Trump calling truth an “essential” quality in a leader and speaking of the value of character in politics.
“It’s not that you never make a mistake in your personal life, but I think, what kind of character do you bring? … I think the persona is more about how you handle your public duties and the kind of character you bring to that effort,” DeSantis said british journalist springs morgan.
Trump has not taken veiled criticism lightly. he quickly returned fire on DeSantis with a reminder of accusations that DeSantis drank with underage girls when he taught at a boarding school in Georgia, apparently accusing him of being a sexual predator of children. Former Trump ally and former White House adviser Steve Bannon called DeSantis is a “weasel,” while MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell accused him of being a “Trojan horse.”
DeSantis is widely expected to seek the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, which would put him in competition with Trump, who has already declared his candidacy.
DeSantis’ aggressive use of government power to restrict LGBTQ rights and African-American studies courses in Florida, as well as busing undocumented immigrants to blue states, has made him a darling of the conservative movement and has generated much expectation about a presidential candidacy. .
But in a post on his TruthSocial website on Wednesday, Trump called DeSantis “just your average REPUBLICAN governor who has great public relations, way better than he deserves,” noting that DeSantis’ support in early polls on the Republican primaries appear to be waning.
Trump currently leads all other candidates and potential candidates in the race, according to a Monmouth University study. survey released Wednesday about the possible lineup of the Republican Party’s presidential primary. Also, Trump has gained support as DeSantis has fallen.
It’s still very early in the race, and DeSantis has yet to formally begin his campaign for president, but he could find it more difficult to advance in the primary if legal charges are brought against Trump, in New York or elsewhere. Trump has already capitalized on the mere possibility of arrest, raising funds and rallying his fellow Republicans, including several of his outspoken rivals in the presidential race, in his defense.
“There is a certain concentration around the victim that happens,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (RN.D.) said of the effect a possible impeachment of Trump may have within the Republican Party.
Some Republicans acknowledged that attacking Trump is a risky strategy, even as they welcomed a healthy intraparty debate that included more presidential candidates in the 2024 race.
“I look at the current polls in terms of where the average primary voter is; it looks like that could be a difficult way to navigate,” said Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) when asked about DeSantis’ strategy in recent weeks. .
Meanwhile, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), a Trump ally, suggested that the ability to win an election was more important to Republican primary voters than questions of character.
“You watch college football or basketball, winning comes first,” said Tuberville, a former college football coach at Alabama. “Character should be more involved, (but) people are looking for success. That’s the way it is. Gain. Gain.”
But Senator Lindsey Graham (RS.C.), who called Trump, a bigot “xenophobic and racial bully” when they both ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016 before he withdrew and eventually became a loyal Trump supporter, said he had nothing against DeSantis.
“You have to stand up for yourself,” Graham told HuffPost. “Trump has speed when it comes to the primary, and if DeSantis were to pull back, that would make sense to me.”
Cramer said DeSantis’ “strength is combat, similar to President Trump’s.”
Still, most Republican senators did not want to get in the middle of a growing divide between their top presidential contenders on Wednesday.
“I don’t think it’s in any Republican’s best interest to speculate about what might happen in a Republican primary,” Sen. John Thune (RS.D.), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, told reporters on Wednesday.
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