In response to the barrage of criticism former President Trump had received from conservative media figures after disclosing he had received a COVID booster shot late last year, I posited that anti-vaxxers weren't going to abandon him.
I did so for two reasons. First, most of the anti-vaxxers erroneously think Trump was robbed in 2020 and that the Presidency belongs to him. Second, I doubted any Republican would be prepared to challenge Trump on COVID:
Second, I cannot see any Republican challenging Trump on vaccines much less anything else nor do I see if any of the aforementioned figures rallying around anyone other than Trump. It is possible that a Republican could try to position himself or herself to the right of Trump on vaccines but Trump would direct his venom on them. Whatever differences these right-wing figures might have with Trump won't be sufficient to abandon him.
Well, it would seem Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is testing those waters by positioning himself to the right of Trump not so much on vaccines per se but rather Trump's stay at home directive in March 2020. In an interview on a conservative podcast, DeSantis declared he should have been "louder" in his opposition to those measures.
Those remarks come only days after Trump took a thinly veiled swipe at DeSantis when he called politicians who refused to declare if they've received their boosters to be "gutless." Now while DeSantis has refused to say whether he got boosted, it's not like Trump was forthcoming about it much less had his COVID shots broadcast live like President Biden, Vice-President Harris and former Vice-President Pence have. After all, back in September, Trump had indicated he was unlikely to receive one.
Still, it will be interesting a) to see how Trump responds and b) if DeSantis persists in challenging Trump in this manner. Keep in mind, DeSantis is up for re-election in November. Recent polls have seen DeSantis comfortably ahead of potential Democratic challengers Charlie Crist and Nikki Fried. But Trump could see fit to lay landmines if he perceives DeSantis as a threat. Trump has certainly made it known that he believes he "made" DeSantis and that he isn't sufficiently deferential. Although Trump is the overwhelming favorite among Republicans to be their standard bearer in 2024, DeSantis is the only other Republican who poll in double digits.
I suspect this will likely be a low intensity battle until November. If DeSantis is defeated the question is moot. But if he is re-elected it will likely give him confidence to take a deeper dive against Trump. Of course, a lot of this will be driven by the MAGA base. Whatever their disagreements with Trump on vaccines, if they stay in his camp then DeSantis will have to put his presidential ambitions aside. Short of a wholescale rift, I still don't see MAGA abandoning Trump in favor of DeSantis nor any other Republican who might see fit to challenge Trump on his COVID response.
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