Campaign

In the salad days of early 2023, when Ron DeSantis was the clear insurgent candidate to wrest the GOP nomination from Donald Trump, the Florida governor boasted of his ability to rise above the chaos and office politics that had derailed the populist agenda under Trump’s watch. “In terms of my approach to leadership, I get personnel in the government who have the agenda of the people and share our agenda. You bring your own agenda in, you’re gone,” DeSantis said. “The way we run the government, I think, is no daily drama, focus on the big picture and put points on the board.” He has since dropped that line; it’s been too obviously overtaken by actual events.

Cockburn started his day yesterday afternoon scratching his head, and the confusion wasn’t due to a hangover (this time). “Trumpworld Goes Into Meltdown After Trump Endorses Dr. Oz” was one headline Cockburn found puzzling. “Ex-president faces fierce GOP backlash after endorsing TV’s Dr Oz in Senate race” was another. Things were equally befuddling on Twitter. “This endorsement could divide MAGA in the only way that matters: he could lose America First conservatives over it,” tweeted Breitbart’s editor-at-large Joel Pollak. “It’s like Donald Trump’s staff is sabotaging Trump by convincing him to make the worst possible endorsements,” echoed right-wing radio host Erick Erickson.