Trump at WACO vs DeSantis at Disney
No contest. It’s blood they want, not Disney on Ice
This will be short. But I think it needs to be said.
With all of the reporting and controversy surrounding Trump’s rally in WACO, Texas, there has been a great deal of comment on how Trump is putting DeSantis in his rear-view mirror as a competitor for the Republican nomination for President.
Some say DeSantis just isn’t substantive enough on hot-button MAGA issues.
Some say DeSantis is just not charismatic enough to compete with Trump.
Some say that Trump has become an occult leader in the minds of the MAGA millions and DeSantis can’t break the spell.
Some say that Trump is simply trying to amp-up the loyalty of his core followers to violently protest if/when he is indicted.
Some say that MAGA types think DeSantis is too soft and they don’t trust him.
None of these explanations, or most others, get at the essence of what has put Trump in the lead of the MAGAfied GOP and keeps him there in the hearts and minds of the MAGA crowd.
What distinguishes Trump from De Santis and other Republican primary candidates is that he has made the political personal, just as it is for the MAGA crowd. He has thus moved from being the leading catalyst for grievance politics to being “one with” the aggrieved: the most powerful and popular one.
The Chosen One.
And further, Trump went to WACO to make it explicitly, unmistakably clear that he is running not simply for re-election, but for retribution. He is running for payback and for score-settling — for the deeply personal grievances that he and his MAGA millions share.
This is exactly the sort of leader MAGA is primed for. Trump knows this because he has brought them to this. He is showcasing his fanatical drive to settle both personal and political scores and, by doing so, to carry out the (as violent as needed) suppression, if not eradication, of liberalism and the liberal state.
DeSantis and other potential rivals to Trump won’t and can’t go this far. Their grievances are merely political and therefore inherently mutable, even suspect.
Bottom Line:
The key in this GOP race?
Trump and MAGA are “out for blood.” DeSantis and other potential Republican candidates are simply not blood-thirsty enough.
