I will always be grateful for the presidency of Donald Trump and, if he is the GOP nominee for president in 2024, I will support him.  But I am very disturbed that yesterday, at an airport rally in Pennsylvania, he attacked Ron DeSantis...with one of his derisive nicknames, except that this one doesn’t even make any sense:

Trump mocks DeSantis as "Ron DeSanctimonious" at a rally tonight in Pennsylvania. pic.twitter.com/efTl2vNQRB

— The Bias (@thebias_news) November 6, 2022

President Reagan of blessed memory left us with a very useful 11th commandment: “Thou shalt not attack another Republican."

In today’s political environment, with the Democrat party in the hands of the radical left, and wrecking our economy, society and ability to defend ourselves, defeating them and taking control of the Oval Office and both houses of Congress (with substantial majorities) is more important than any individual’s political career. So, Reagan’s rule is even more important than when he enunciated it himself.  

Notice that the crowd didn’t respond very forcefully to Trump’s insult. I suspect that most of them have at least some respect for what DeSantis has accomplished in Florida. He kept that state from fully engaging with the Covid lockdown madness that has so severely harmed us and our children. Perhaps Trump’s biggest failure in office was his inability to do what DeSantis did, which was to see through the tainted advice of “experts” like Dr. Fauci, and, instead, to stand up for common sense. Trump, to put it starkly, was duped and DeSantis was not.

That’s a hard truth that must rankle Trump and may account for some of his hostility toward Florida’s governor.

Another source of envy and hostility may be the probability (if you believe the polls) that DeSantis is going to turn his squeaker victory last time into a landslide triumph in his re-election. The Real Clear Politics average of polls has him 11.5 points ahead of former Governor Charlie Crist, a man who does not lack name identification in Florida. The trend has been in DeSantis’s direction so his actual margin could be even more eye-popping.

I worry that Trump would not be nearly as strong a candidate in 2024 as DeSantis would be for four big reasons:

1. A Trump candidacy would unite the Democrats and galvanize the many people who suffer from TDS into donating, activism, and turning out. Without Trump as a demon to fight, the Democrats would be left with trying to unite around their pathetic bench.
2. DeSantis, while also being demonized by the media and other Democrats, doesn’t offer nearly as much material as Trump. He doesn’t engage in the loose talk that Trump favors. He speaks with even but forceful language. And the last word I’d use for him is “sanctimonious.” I guess Trump and his advisors looked for negative words that begin with the letters s and a, and that was the best idea they came up with.
3. Thanks to Biden’s obvious infirmity, age will be a major consideration for many people. Even though Trump doesn’t seem to have aged much and is in remarkable shape for a man his age, he is rather overweight, which is a factor in mortality prospects, and he would be well into his eighties in a second term.
4. Trump could only serve one more term. DeSantis could serve two, and the sort of major changes we need will take time to implement.

I see Trump’s attack as a mistake. It’s not going to diminish any of DeSantis’s support, and it will drive some Trump supporters to question his judgment.

Photo credit: Twitter video screengrab