There are many reasons to fear a Ron DeSantis presidency, despite what some people might be arguing in the paper of record today. In addition to the bigotry, bullying, and antidemocratic tendencies, one of those reasons would be his longtime support for Donald Trump. Sure, the two men may not be the best of pals at this particular moment, but it wasn’t that long ago that DeSantis was proudly dressing one of his kids up in a MAGA onesie and teaching the other to say “make America great again.” And in his new memoir, out this week, the governor of Florida is apparently happy to remind people just how much he once loved—loves?—Trump.
The Guardian reports that in The Courage to Be Free, DeSantis offers no shortage of praise for one of the worst presidents in modern history. Starting at the very beginning and laying it on extra thick, DeSantis writes: “If someone had asked me, as a kid growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, to name someone who was rich, I—and probably nearly all my friends—would have responded by naming Donald Trump.” It was because of his celebrity status, the governor suggests, that the Queens-born real estate developer was a welcome addition to the 2016 presidential election. “Trump…brought a unique star power to the race,” he writes. Then he links Trump to Republican hero Ronald Reagan, and claims the seeds of Trump’s presidency were planted back int the ’80s. “Some DC commentators have opined that Donald Trump’s nomination represented a hostile takeover of the Republican Party. But this analysis gets it exactly backward,” DeSantis opines. “Since Ronald Reagan flew back to California on January 20, 1989, the GOP grass roots had been longing for someone who rejected the old-guard way of doing business and who could speak to their concerns and aspirations. Trump supported policies that appealed to the base in a way that GOP leaders in the DC swamp had been either incapable of doing or unwilling to do.”
Elsewhere in the book, per The Guardian, DeSantis:
- Approvingly quotes Trump as saying the press is “the enemy of the American people” and claims that the media “spent the next four years proving Trump right”;
- Brags that he was one of the first congressional opponents of the Russia investigation;
- Says the above is one of the reasons he became tight with the then president (“I had developed a good relationship with the president largely because I supported his initiatives in Congress and opposed the Russia collusion conspiracy theory.”);
- Credits Trump with helping him win his first gubernatorial election (“I knew that a Trump endorsement would provide me with the exposure to GOP primary voters across the State of Florida, and I was confident that many would see me as a good candidate once they learned about my record.”);
- Doesn’t mention January 6 once
Could DeSantis soon have less than positive things to say about the ex-president? Sure, especially if he announces his 2024 candidacy and especially if Trump continues to suggest, among other things, that “Ron DeSanctimonious” has just as gross a history with women and young girls as he does. But when DeSantis does, don’t forget the way he once glowingly spoke of him.
Oh, and for posterity’s sake:
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