Opinion
By Steve Nicklas, 10-2-23
Ron DeSantis has officially sunk his presidential campaign by referring to diehard followers of Donald Trump as “listless vessels.”
DeSantis recently fired the shocking insult like a grammatical torpedo in an article in a statewide publication. Unwilling to admit mistakes, DeSantis then doubled down and embraced the comment. The damage was already done.
Ironically, the DeSantis campaign has resembled a listless vessel. It is losing direction, changing course and taking on problematic water.
DeSantis took a leave from his Florida governor position to seek the Republican nomination. However, he trails frontrunner Trump by a whopping 43 points in the Real Clear Politics weekly average.
At this point, his only chance of winning is if Trump is disqualified through the litany of indictments against him. This is as likely as Florida becoming covered by water again.
The DeSantis comment has historical merit. It is reminiscent of the “basket of deplorables” gaff from Hillary Clinton in the 2016 campaign. Clinton asserted that most of Trump’s supporters belong in this low-life category.
Prominent Trump adviser Jason Miller jumped on the parallel, saying: “Looks like Ron DeSanctimonious just had his ‘Basket of Deplorables’ moment. Not good!” Trump feels DeSantis has betrayed him by running and has labeled him “DeSanctimonious.”
It gets more complicated for DeSantis. If Trump is convicted, jailed, removed from the presidential ballots, etc., DeSantis must court his listless-vessel supporters. Yeah, the ones he just smeared.
And the base of rabid Trump supporters is huge. Some 75 million people legitimately voted for Trump in the 2020 election. It’s the most votes ever received by a sitting president. Opponent Joe Biden hardly left his basement to campaign, but nonetheless got a record 81 million votes.
DeSantis wasn’t finished with his attention-seeking statements. In the Republican debate last week, DeSantis blamed Trump for the national deficit and for the suffocating inflation.
Of note, inflation was below 2 percent during Trump’s presidency. It’s at least double that rate now. Biden tweeted his approval of DeSantis’s silly claim, and is quickly using the material in a campaign commercial.
Based on these comments, DeSantis understands economics as well as flamboyant congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Known best by her AOC acronym, she misinterpreted the offer of $3 billion in tax incentives to bring Amazon’s east-coast headquarters to New York City.
AOC spearheaded a grand effort to deter Amazon, saying city leaders could spend the $3 billion in better ways. Amazon finally scrapped its move, which would have been a financial blessing for the struggling city. And AOC is still waiting for the $3 billion.
It’s as impressive as a presidential campaign hanging on the hope that your primary opponent gets jailed. Instead of speaking out about the gross overreach by the U.S. Justice Department against Republicans and particularly Trump, DeSantis is savoring the moment. For pure political gain.
It’s sad to see DeSantis fall so far. A formerly heralded political figure who earned accolades like “America’s governor.”
And to become another desperate politician, hurling insults and gasping for survival as his career sinks.
Steve Nicklas is the managing partner of Nicklas Wealth Management in Fernandina Beach. He is also an award-winning columnist. His columns regularly appear in weekly newspapers in Northeast Florida and in Southeast Georgia, and on his website at www.SteveNicklasMarketplace.com. He has published a book, “All About Money,” of his favorite columns from the past 20 years. The book is available on Amazon. He has also done financial reports for area radio stations and for National Public Radio in Jacksonville. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 904-753-0236.
The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal Florida.
