DeSantis Plots a Comeback

(Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Remember Ron DeSantis? His disastrous presidential campaign rivaled Jeb Bush’s in how severely it humiliated the candidate. The man once proclaimed as the future of conservatism suffered a humbling defeat at the hands of Donald Trump. Despite the intense anti-Trump hatred of his campaign, DeSantis immediately endorsed Trump after dropping out.

The Florida governor’s star diminished significantly after his presidential bid. The MAGA base lost respect for him and he supplied plenty of fodder for online mockery. His failure to compete with Trump dethroned him as the strongest possible successor.

But DeSantis hasn’t given up on his White House ambitions. His team is making moves to push Ron back into the discourse and make him a contender for 2028. But these moves may actually handicap another run and show he didn’t learn much from his failed bid. DeSantis is still a successful conservative governor of one of the largest states in the union. He has wide name recognition. Yet, the fundamental issues that killed his 2028 campaign remain. 

DeSantis World wants to make his wife, Casey, the next governor of Florida. Ron is term-limited, so he can’t run in 2026. Who better to carry on the DeSantis legacy than the state’s first lady? Casey, unlike her husband, has charisma and confidence, and she’s much better on the stump. She’s a political creature and Ron’s chief advisor. Her strong approval ratings and compelling story of overcoming cancer make her a promising candidate. Moreover, her husband’s strong political machine will undoubtedly help her if she chooses to run.

But Mrs. DeSantis faces a major obstacle to staying in the governor’s mansion: President Trump has already endorsed Rep. Byron Donalds in the race. Rather than trying to wage war against Trump in the petulant manner of her husband in the 2024 primary, Casey is going with a friendlier approach. This week, she played golf with the president while her husband took pictures. It’s part of a charm offensive to get Trump to stay out of the race and potentially extend his endorsement to Mrs. DeSantis. (Trump has endorsed multiple candidates in the same race before.) 

This shows DeSantis World has learned an important lesson from the failed presidential bid, namely, that it’s never wise to go toe-to-toe with Trump as a Republican—because you are bound to lose. Fortunately for the DeSantis clan, the president doesn’t appear to hold a grudge. He's reconciled with the governor in the same way he came to terms with many of his 2016 rivals. DeSantis is a smart politician. He realizes he has to be in the president’s good graces to keep his White House dreams alive. A gubernatorial race where Trump actively involves himself on behalf of Byron Donalds would doom Mrs. DeSantis’s chance. So Ron and Casey played golf with their former enemy.

This is smart. However, DeSantis World still wants to undermine Trump in a more subtle fashion. The governor’s team knows it’s stupid to go on the offensive against the president. So they went with a proxy target in the form of Andrew Tate, whose appeal to young men they really don’t like. The “redpill” influencer is widely hated by conservative commentators for his “misogyny,” criticism of Israel, and alleged abuse of women. After Romania lifted restrictions on Tate and his brother, the pair flew to Florida. Reports claim Trump officials may have had a hand in pressuring Romania to lay off the Tate brothers. 

The event could be easily ignored or dismissed by DeSantis and Florida officials. Tate is not a major concern for offline people. But to the influencers and pundits who shaped DeSantis’s horrible campaign strategy, Tate is one of the greatest threats to humanity–and they especially relish the alleged Trump connection. The extremely annoying people who helped tank DeSantis’s persona among conservatives see this as an opportunity to get back at Trump World. So they’ve decided to make a big deal out of Andrew Tate.

First DeSantis issued a very clear rebuke of the Tate brothers and said they’re not welcome in Florida. Now the state attorney general is investigating the pair over human trafficking allegations. Romanian authorities have pursued a legal case against the brothers over the matter, but without reaching a conviction. 

The state can certainly investigate Andrew Tate if it has reason to believe he’s involved in wrongdoing. But to make a public spectacle out of the investigation is an attempt to score political points. However, it’s unlikely to result in much political gain. Byron Donalds condemned the Tates, taking away an issue for DeSantis World to use against him. (Matt Gaetz, on the other hand, defended the Tates and accused DeSantis World of exploiting the matter to “virtue signal.”)

The investigation will definitely please Ron’s remaining online fans and his supporters in conservative media, but he doesn’t need to do any more to win them over. His entire presidential campaign was centered around them—and he lost. He needs to move beyond caring about this devoted fanbase. Ordinary people do not care about Tate. There are far more important matters in this country and in Florida than a controversial influencer flying to the Sunshine State. Nobody is going to vote for DeSantis because he tried to imprison Andrew Tate. It’s an extremely online issue, reminiscent of how DeSantis thought Twitter Spaces was a great idea to launch a presidential bid.

Taking on the Tates won’t necessarily harm DeSantis, but it could if Trump perceives an investigation as an implicit attack on himself. If that happens, Casey can kiss her hopes of winning over the president goodbye. The whole point of DeSantis’s comeback is to make him a viable presidential candidate once more. Choosing a proxy battle with Trump over Andrew Tate could prove disastrous. DeSantis’s online fans happily perceive this matter as an anti-Trump affair. (They still hate Trump, by the way.) But if DeSantis should’ve learned anything from his 2024 bid, it’s that he needs to ignore the Gator emoji set and work on making himself more MAGA.

All that said, DeSantis has reasons to be optimistic. Trump may brush off the Tate matter and decide to stay out of the Florida race. If he does, Mrs. DeSantis stands a strong chance in 2026, and the current governor has a shot at the White House in 2028.

But I wouldn’t bet on Mr. DeSantis ever being a viable presidential contender. Ron’s chief problem remains—his personality. Trump identified this shortcoming in the primary, writing in a Truth Social post: “The problem with Rondesanctimonious is that he needs a personality transplant, and those are not yet available.” 

DeSantis is awkward meeting voters and on the stump. He heavily depended on conservative media making him out to be Ron “DeSavage” rather than the stiff he actually is. One cannot win the presidency with such a personality. People who make their living off politics bizarrely tried to claim that charisma doesn’t matter in campaigns when touting DeSantis, but they were completely wrong. Voters often cast their ballot based on personality rather than on policy. It’s just the nature of people, and this was affirmed in the 2024 primary.

Mr. DeSantis’s moment has passed. He still has a strong record and name recognition, but other non-Trump politicians, such as J.D. Vance, have taken up his space. No one outside of the remaining DeSantoids on X treat him as the second coming anymore.

The 2024 election was a disaster for DeSantis, and there’s little to suggest that 2028 would bring a different result. Ron’s personality issues may even make Casey the more viable presidential contender, in which case the first gentleman would be relegated to taking pictures of his wife at public events rather than making news himself. So much for Ron “DeSavage.”