Trump Has Been Busy Turning DeSantis Into Chopped Liver-- Will He Even Have A Career Left At All?

Vivek Promises To Waste Many Millions Of Dollars On His Sputtering Vanity Campaign

Trump’s political team has been busy rounding up Florida endorsements in front of the GOP’s Florida Freedom Summit. The big news was that Skelator, the crooked former governor and current senator, Rick Scott endorsed Trump yesterday, putting immense pressure of Rubio to get on board as well. Florida congressmen who have endorsed Trump instead of DeSantis include Matt Gaetz, Byron Donalds, Brian Mast, Carlos Gimenez, John Rutherford, Daniel Webster, Anna Paulina Luna, Gus Bilirakis, Michael Waltz, Greg Steube, Cory Mills, Vern Buchanan. Only one has endorsed DeSantis, his former Secretary of State, Laurel Lee. 7 haven’t endorsed anyone yet.

The Messenger also reported that “state Rep. Randy Fine— who was a top ally of the governor’s in the Florida Legislature— withdrew his endorsement of DeSantis and switched to Trump’s team.” In a legislature that has long feared DeSantis, this is the ultimate slap in the face, a kind of death blow.

NBC reported that “Trump is the keynote speaker at a presidential forum in Orlando hosted by the Republican Party of Florida, an event where DeSantis was given a midafternoon speaking slot by his home-state GOP. In addition, Trump is expected to announce endorsements from more Florida Republicans, host party leaders at a reception at Mar-a-Lago, and hold a South Florida rally on the same day as the third GOP debate.”

To Byron York, a far right journalist, what we’re looking at now is "a one-candidate race with two backups<>" (in case Trump dies or goes to prison). “Some Republicans,” he wrote, “have long wanted the GOP presidential field to narrow. They hoped the also-ran candidates would drop out. So far, there hasn't been much of that. Instead, the field has effectively narrowed itself. The bottom tier is out of it. Asa Hutchinson, Doug Burgum, Tim Scott, Chris Christie, and Vivek Ramaswamy— none of them ever touched 10% support nationally, and now they're all under 5%, some even lower. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who dropped out over the weekend, was in that group, too.” So, all that’s left is a shrinking DeSantis and a surging Haley, fighting it out for second place, hoping Trump dies or starts attracting guilty verdicts. (On CNBC yesterday DeSantis said that if Trump is convicted of any of the criminal charges against him, he would be unelectable: “It would be fatal in a general election. I don't think the party should nominate in that situation.”

York asks, “what if one or more of those lawsuits and prosecutions succeed? What if, for example, Democrats manage to take Trump off the ballot in some, or all, states? To convict him of some number of felonies? Who knows what will happen— one possibility is prolonged chaos— but the Republican Party will need a presidential candidate. That's where the two backups, DeSantis and Haley, might come in.”

Ramaswamy, though, isn’t ready to be dismissed out of hand that way. Even though his polling is dismal— the right-leaning Real Clear Politics polling average has him in 4th place at 4.6%— Stephanie Murray reported yesterday that his ad campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire will include over $10 million in broadcast, cable and digital spending, much of it his own personal-- and very shady-- fortune. His 30 second spot begins “My name is Vivek Ramaswamy, and I speak the truth” and it will start running tomorrow.