Against the Grain II

Is Ron DeSantis replacing Donald Trump

When Donald Trump was running for the presidency of the U.S., he changed. Prior to the presidential run, he was a figure in urban media. In Nelly’s popular song “Country Grammar,” he referenced Trump in saying for him to let him into the rich culture. Several Black hip hop and R&B songs and artists referenced Trump as an icon. Trump would often appear at Black events and had public friendships with many Black entertainers, leaders and figures.

In 2015 when he began his run for the White House, he had to choose a side.  He chose to alienate the Black culture that had accepted him and become a hard-line conservative.  Years before, he had commented that if he were ever to run for office, he would run as a Republican “because they aren’t very smart.”  Trump won the office in 2016 and made several key changes during his term.

Trump alienated Blacks and many Hispanics during his tenure. He promised to build a wall to keep Mexicans and other immigrants out of the country. He facilitated many strained relations with foreign countries as his bully tactics were not well received.  While not a traditional Republican, he even drew ire from traditional GOP members such as John McCain. His disparaging remarks about McCain still hold friction to this day.

For followers of Trump, he was a breath of fresh air.  He drew Republican recluses out of the shadows and in effect, hate crimes hit an all-time high. To further dig in to his position, when White supremacists descended upon Charlottesville, Va., to riot in the name of “reclaiming of America,” Trump refused to criticize them. That sent a message to minorities in America that he clearly was not in support of them.  It factored into his eventual loss to U.S. President Joe Biden in 2020.

Additionally, one of Trump’s biggest platforms was social media…Twitter to be exact.  Around the clock, he would send his thoughts out to the world without a filter.  That caused more backlash than he expected. When his account was taken down by Twitter, his access to the world was cut off.  His popularity diminished.

One of his allies early on in his presidency was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.  DeSantis is credited with being so friendly that Trump felt comfortable changing his residency to Florida. Living in the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump would seemingly avoid the distractions of New York City and shield himself from some access.

At some point, DeSantis broke from Trump.  The Republican governor, popular to his fan-base, began to exude his own platform. In so many ways, it was from Trump’s playbook.  With control of the Florida Legislature, he steamrolled initiatives specifically aimed at energizing his party and not having a single care about the victims of the policies.  The vindictive nature of his attack on Walt Disney World is a clear indicator that he has a desire to trample anyone or anything in his way.

Currently he is on a national tour of his book.  Trump has claimed that he is pre-campaigning for the presidency without filing to do so.  Either way, he is making a national tour and touting many of the hard-line initiatives and drawing in many of Trump’s former supporters. In one stop last week, he talked about building a border wall. That came directly out of Trump’s playbook.

This should be concerning for those who were on the wrong end of Trump’s politics.  Unfortunately, unlike Trump, DeSantis is smarter and calculated.  He could do more damage than Donald Trump ever did.  The policy of taking books from classroom shelves, restricting words from the vocabulary in Florida and ramming through open carry laws is alarming in Florida.  The problem is with the uncertainty of the Republican Party and a clear choice for President in 2024, DeSantis could be presented as the Republican nominee for the presidency.

In the last several elections, Florida has been a teetering point.  Florida’s votes have determined the outcome of major elections.  In 2024, it will be no different.  All those who are in Florida must register, must participate in the process, and must ultimately vote in order to keep the insensitive politics we see in Florida from spreading to the entire country.