Donald Trump has had a bad week.
And his bad week equals a good one for likely GOP Primary rival Ron DeSantis.
Because Ron DeSantis just got a major endorsement from this top Trump campaign adviser.
The race for the 2024 GOP Presidential nomination is quickly becoming a two-man contest.
DeSantis is the “best possible option”
And though former President Trump still leads in most polls by a wide margin, Ron DeSantis is picking up steam – and key endorsements.
The most recent huge endorsement comes as a previous top adviser to former President Donald Trump has now endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP primary.
Steve Cortes, a senior strategy adviser on Trump’s 2020 Presidential campaign, wrote an opinion piece for Newsweek arguing DeSantis is “the best possible option to win the Presidency in 2024.”
DeSantis, who hasn’t even announced whether he will run for President next year or not, now commands a strong second place showing in the nomination fight, with no other candidate even coming close.
In his op-ed, Cortes suggested the very popular Florida Republican would “govern as a highly capable, patriotic populist leader” should he win the White House.
Cortes wrote, “I have worked as a dedicated spokesman and advocate for Donald Trump for much of the last seven years, so I do not arrive at that conclusion flippantly. But our America First movement has always been bigger and more important than any one individual, and heading into this crucial election, our activism and our votes must be guided by a clear-eyed assessment of recent failures and potential future successes.”
“Discipline and policy results over chaos”
In spelling out his decision to endorse DeSantis over his former boss, Cortes said it came down to three things: a rematch between Trump and President Biden that “no one likes,” there being “no substitute” for a Republican victory, and “discipline and policy results over chaos.”
“Is a rematch of 2020 really the best America can do in a moment like this one?” Cortes wrote. “The country is miserable. That’s not some biased or uninformed right-wing opinion, but the harsh reality revealed by data and evidence. Nearly three out of four Americans believe the country is on the wrong track, per the latest Morning Consult poll.
Partisanship aside, only one in five independents believe the country is headed in the right direction.”
Cortes questioned whether a rematch between Trump and Biden would “inspire a national renewal.”
And then Cortes suggested it’s time to consider supporting DeSantis, a man he considers to be the “most compelling candidate.”
Cortes then highlighted the GOP’s “disappointing losses in 2018, 2020, and 2022,” and said it’s time for Republicans to “find a way to halt the trend of losing and pivot to winning candidates and approaches for 2024 and beyond.”
Clearly to Cortes that way is the Ron DeSantis way.
Governed like some national version of Berkeley
Cortes went on, “America is a philosophically center-right country, but in recent years it has been governed like some national version of Berkeley, California, because of these preventable election losses. The days of Republican voters screaming from their couches in anger must end. Without victory, our conservative agendas — however correct or well-formed — mean little.”
Cortes’ road to winning would start by “looking to the lone statewide bright spot of November 2022: Florida.”
“Not only did Ron DeSantis win a smashing runaway victory in the race for Governor by nearly 20 points, but he also lifted Republicans in the entire slate, ushering in a full GOP sweep of statewide offices for the first time since the Reconstruction era,” Cortes wrote.
“In addition, DeSantis proved the appeal of competent governance combined with the fighting spirit of patriotic populism. The governor’s landslide win included tectonic shifts of constituencies that Republicans previously struggled to convince,” the GOP strategist continued.
No wonder all of Trump’s attacks are lobbed at DeSantis – he really is the only candidate who could beat Trump and implement America First policies at the same time.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
