Trump Is Now Suggesting Ron DeSantis Is a Pedophile

[Spider-Dan]

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-suggesting-ron-desantis-pedophile-1234675596/

Donald Trump recently has been ramping up his attacks on Ron DeSantis ahead of a potential 2024 Republican primary showdown. We’re not going to lie, we figured it take the former president a least a few more months before he started accusing the Florida governor of pedophilia.

Trump has been doing just that on Tuesday, though, sharing a few posts on Truth Social purporting to show DeSantis “grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher.”

“That’s not Ron, is it?” Trump wrote, sarcastically. “He would never do such a thing!”

The New York Times reported last year on DeSantis’ time as a teacher at the Darlington School in northwest Georgia. The report notes that several students described DeSantis as “a frequent presence at parties” with seniors at the school. “As an 18-year-old, I remember thinking, ‘What are you doing here, dude?’” one former student told the Times.

The photo Trump shared on Tuesday was originally published in 2021 by a Democratic blog called The Hill Reporter, which noted that the girls in the photo were seniors when it was taken in 2002.

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Let me be perfectly clear here: Ron DeSantis is a coward.  And like all cowards, he is only interested in acting tough towards those who are weak and powerless, like gay people or trans kids.  So Low Energy Ron will not do a damn thing about Trump implying that he is a pedophile groomer.  Wait, that's not true: if Little Ronnie (as some call him) does anything, it will be to slavishly praise Trump and announce that he (DeSantis) is not running in 2024, as he gives Trump his enthusiastic endorsement.

In conclusion: Ron DeSantis is a coward, and a pathetic spineless bully, and also maybe a grooming pedophile.

That is all.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Why the fuck didn’t the Charlie Crist people make this a news story?  Democrats need to get more aggressive.

[DenverFinFan]

Pandering to the Qanon bloc. Sadly it just may work.

Not that Ron is any less dangerous. There isn’t a single republican with a chance at the nomination who should be allowed within 5 miles of the White House.

[Dave Gray]

This might sound crazy, but I think that this is ultimately good for Desantis.

I believe that Trump is unelectable.  He already lost and isn't exactly adding new voters.  He's shaved off people since his coup attempt.  So, there's nowhere for him to go.

I think that enough people in the GOP establishment as well as many voters understand this and they see Desantis as [insert whatever you want him to be].  I hear all the time that Desantis is like Trump but without the baggage.  He's not been tested on the stage or challenged, so we'll have to see how that goes.

But I do think that Trump attacking him, especially on this type of thing will trick people into thinking that he's not Trump and give a permission structure to break from Trump to support the more "normal" Desantis.

The GOP hard-liners will fall in line for whoever the nominee is and the middle will like that Trump is attacking someone.

All Desantis has to do is not fight back.



In a way, I think something is also true for Biden.  Conservative talking heads and social media would have you thinking that Biden is a dementia patient, wandering the White House halls, confused, not knowing where he is.  It lowers the bar then, when you see him deliver a speech or spar with the opposition to where he comes off looking good.

I saw this with GW Bush.  Liberals and comedians painted him as some kind of booger-eating moron, so when he debated or gave a speech and stayed on a normal, presidential message, it lowered the bar and he exceeded expectations.

[Spider-Dan]

I think that enough people in the GOP establishment as well as many voters understand this and they see Desantis as [insert whatever you want him to be].  I hear all the time that Desantis is like Trump but without the baggage.  He's not been tested on the stage or challenged, so we'll have to see how that goes.

But I do think that Trump attacking him, especially on this type of thing will trick people into thinking that he's not Trump and give a permission structure to break from Trump to support the more "normal" Desantis.

The GOP hard-liners will fall in line for whoever the nominee is and the middle will like that Trump is attacking someone.

All Desantis has to do is not fight back.

How does this win a GOP primary?

Everyone tried "not fighting back" in the 2016 GOP primary and Trump blew them all out.

[Dave Gray]

How does this win a GOP primary?

Everyone tried "not fighting back" in the 2016 GOP primary and Trump blew them all out.

I think it's a different environment now and Trump is unelectable.  I think he will struggle with donors and "moderate GOP" support, whatever that is.

He will lose on the electability argument.  You already see Trump supporters on this start saying it.  Desantis will have to fight back -- but he won't have to fight back against this type of thing, especially this early.

[Spider-Dan]

You say he's "unelectable," but that has nothing to do with a GOP primary.

Republican primary voters choose unelectable candidates all the time.  That's why Republican politicians are so terrified of being primaried!  They know that the GOP primary electorate will happily tank a general election if that what it takes when you nominate a True Believer.  Look at Blake Masters, Kari Lake, and all the other nutters that won GOP primaries last cycle.  Republican primary voters don't play the "electability" game.

P.S. "Everyone said Trump was 'unelectable' in 2016 and you were all wrong then, too!"

[dolphins4life]

Both Trump and DeSantis are great politicians who have great policies.

DeSantis guided Florida effectively throughout the Covid pandemic without having to shut down the state.  He caused Florida's economy to boom.  He destroyed Charlie Crist

Trump:

- kept China in Check
- achieved energy independence
- reduced our dependence on other countries
- secured our borders
- achieved a booming economy with no inflation

Biden has undone ALL of this.

WHY??  Why do people vote for candidates based on their personalities, instead of on their skill?

Do you people actually LIKE spending so much more for goods?  Do you like your 401ks crashing?

[Dave Gray]

You say he's "unelectable," but that has nothing to do with a GOP primary.

I think that he's unelectable in a general and so people who would otherwise support him in the primary will support his opponent instead.  This includes donors.  And I don't think Trump is going to get the free media cycle he did the first time, so he will need the money.

[Spider-Dan]

I think that he's unelectable in a general and so people who would otherwise support him in the primary will support his opponent instead.

This is simply not how Republican primary voters think, and there is a mountain of evidence behind that statement.  So what evidence do you have that modern Republican primary voters give the slightest damn about "electability" in primary voting?

And I don't think Trump is going to get the free media cycle he did the first time, so he will need the money.

I have no idea why you would think this to be true.

Trump is ratings.
Modern news media is driven by ratings.
What part of that dynamic do you think has changed since 2020?  Trump is a more "electable," more "mainstream" candidate now than he was when they gave him ALL the free media in 2016!

[dolphins4life]

This is simply not how Republican primary voters think, and there is a mountain of evidence behind that statement.  So what evidence do you have that modern Republican primary voters give the slightest damn about "electability" in primary voting?
I have no idea why you would think this to be true.

Trump is ratings.
Modern news media is driven by ratings.
What part of that dynamic do you think has changed since 2020?  Trump is a more "electable," more "mainstream" candidate now than he was when they gave him ALL the free media in 2016!

How do you liberals decide who to vote for?

If it's not, "Whoever lets me get away with being the most lazy", it seems like it's, "Whoever can run this country into the ground."

[dolphins4life]

This is simply not how Republican primary voters think, and there is a mountain of evidence behind that statement.  So what evidence do you have that modern Republican primary voters give the slightest damn about "electability" in primary voting?
I have no idea why you would think this to be true.

Trump is ratings.
Modern news media is driven by ratings.
What part of that dynamic do you think has changed since 2020?  Trump is a more "electable," more "mainstream" candidate now than he was when they gave him ALL the free media in 2016!

What could have changed is the GOP has been ravaged by Covid the last few years.  Also, they likely suffered greater losses from other respiratory diseases during the pandemic.  That's how bad candidates get elected.

[Dave Gray]

This is simply not how Republican primary voters think, and there is a mountain of evidence behind that statement.  So what evidence do you have that modern Republican primary voters give the slightest damn about "electability" in primary voting?
I have no idea why you would think this to be true.

It's what I see reported in polling from my various political podcasts/outlets.  But also, I see in anecdotally on here.  If you asked the people on this site who voted for Trump who they'd prefer, I'm guessing you'd get a lot of Desantis.  This is all while Desantis hasn't even announced.  I think that the GOP support, money, and coverage will start to coalesce away from Trump.  We'll see though, it's not like I have a crystal ball.

Put your chips down, though -- do you think Trump is the nominee?

Trump is ratings.
Modern news media is driven by ratings.
What part of that dynamic do you think has changed since 2020?  Trump is a more "electable," more "mainstream" candidate now than he was when they gave him ALL the free media in 2016!

It already changed from 2016 to 2020.  Trump didn't get every speech aired during the election cycle like in 2016, when the media thought it was a circus act.  Already, they cut away from him when he's just going into his "election was rigged" bullshit.

[Spider-Dan]

Put your chips down, though -- do you think Trump is the nominee?

Easily.  The only way it's a close call is if Trump is literally incarcerated.

The people who think today Trump won't be the nominee are, to the man, all people who thought he wouldn't be in 2016.  And for all the same incredibly naive reasons.

[Dave Gray]

Sweet.  I kind of hope that he is, as I believe he's nationally unelectable.  So that's good, I guess.