Trump vs DeSantis in 2024 - who is more dangerous?

[dwayneb]

Now that DeSantis has shown that at least in the Deep South he can be competitive, there is little doubt that he will emerge as an opponent to Trump in the Republican primary for 2024.

Trump and DeSantis are both authoritarians, but as enemies of democracy, they pose unique threats.

Trump is the greatest danger in the near term. There is little doubt that if re-elected that he will provoke a Constitutional crisis within the first year. He will surely move to pardon any January 6th criminals of Federal charges. He will work tirelessly to destroy the DOJ and to damage the rule of law in whatever way he can, since that is in his immediate interest for self preservation.

DeSantis on the other hand is more likely to work quietly and methodically to strangle democracy, just as he did in Florida. He is more cunning than Trump. Unlike Trump he won't be announcing on Twitter his true intent to rip apart the rule of law. Plus, he understands the Deep South and how to communicate to them, Trump simply views them as pawns.

Either of them would be disastrous but in different ways. The effort needs to begin NOW by Democrat leaders to educate the American people about the poison that will be spreading from Florida.

[HUAJIAO]

1. Not just the deep South but rural America.

[Kaleva]

6. In Michigan, the great majority of TFG voters live in urban or mostly urban counties

[hlthe2b]

2. Both, but DeSantis is young and sufficiently intelligent to push an authoritarian takeover.

TFG has some instinctive malign talents in that regard, but DeSantis will be able to study and put the lessons in place from Trump and his mistakes, Orban, and every other historical figure that sought to gain power and keep it.

[underpants]

3. The media will love DeSantis

Trust me. He sells and he’s a horse they don’t need to flog.

[PatSeg]

5. The only thing is

DeSantis seems to have a very real personality deficiency.

[sunonmars]

13. and there is no way to know what way the MAGA will react if Desantis dethrones their idol.

They may go nuclear and sit it out.

[PatSeg]

17. Good point

I really can't see them embracing DeSantis. They very easily might "sit it out" or vote for an obscure third party nutjob to make a statement.

[PatSeg]

4. They each are dangerous

in their own particular way. They are both very real threats to democracy. Trump for his impulsive recklessness and DeSantis for his more disciplined and focused evil. Either of them in the White House is terrifying.

[dalton99a]

12. +1.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

7. As a match-up against Biden, Trump has no path to the White House.

He's still dangerous and bad for the country. Kills GOP prospects.

DeSantis is dangerous in other ways.

[SoCalDavidS]

8. Regardless Of Who It Is, We Shouldn't Spend 1 Dime In Florida

Either one of them is going to win those Electoral votes. It doesn't matter if they win by a single vote cast, or 1,000,000 votes, FL will be a lost cause in 2024. Spend that money in a Purple state like GA, AZ, NV, NC, but just pretend FL doesn't exist, and isn't in play, because it's not.

[republianmushroom]

9. DeSantis by far. IMO

[dwayneb]

20. That's my inclination too

Trump was more of a carnival barker. DeSantis would not hesitate, in my thinking, to create the ultimate police state in the USA if he can make it happen.

[sunonmars]

10. Trump gets away with more with his culty personality status, Desantis just isn't as "likeable"

to them as a culty type thing.

Also Desantis may win a primary but if Trumps lot decide to sit it out hating Desantis, then he's gonna fail on a grand scale.

[dwayneb]

21. Sure hope you are right

I suppose that's our best hope, that Trump and DeSantis can work together to destroy the GOP.

[Jeanette87]

11. A savvy Republican

A savvy Republican will lay low for the next 6 months while Trump trashes desantis, and jump in relatively late when it becomes clear that Trump is not running.

[Happy Hoosier]

14. DeSantis is most dangerous

Trump is done. If he’s the nominee, he’ll
Lose for sure. But DeSantis might be able to pull back some never Trumpers. Having said that a giant civil war in the GQP might damage both sufficiently.

[kentuck]

15. Who is more dangerous than Hitler?

That is what we are dealing with.

DeSantis will never have a cult following.

[dwayneb]

23. Sorry don't understand your statement

I think you are saying that DeSantis can't command the cult following a a Trump? I'm not so sure. Remains to be seen.

The good news is that America still has some rational people out there. The bad news is that less than half of eligible voters even bother to cast a ballot. If we are going to save our democracy we MUST figure out how to change this.

[FloridaBlues]

16. Desantis more dangerous, nasty, bully and thin skinned

Don’t think voters outside of fl will think much of him.

[dwayneb]

24. Sure hope you are right

But I expect the Deep South will accept him with open arms. And he has the potential to turn Georgia red again.

[allegorical oracle]

18. Trump is like a rattlesnake -- can't resist broadcasting his threatening presence and what he plans

to do. DeSatan is more of a stealthy poisoner -- appears benign while quietly pouring everyone a deadly glass of wine. He was a Tea Partier before he turned slightly more centrist to run for Governor, but did co-found the Freedom Caucus in 2015.

From Wikipedia:
Nine conservative active Republican members of the House began planning a new congressional caucus separate from the Republican Study Committee and apart from the House Republican Conference. The founding members who constituted the first board of directors for the new caucus were Republican representatives Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Jim Jordan of Ohio, John Fleming of Louisiana, Matt Salmon of Arizona, Justin Amash of Michigan, Raúl Labrador of Idaho, Mick Mulvaney, of South Carolina, Ron DeSantis of Florida and Mark Meadows of North Carolina.[22]

Mick Mulvaney told Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker, "We had twenty names, and all of them were terrible. None of us liked the Freedom Caucus, either, but it was so generic and so universally awful that we had no reason to be against it." According to Lizza, "one of the working titles for the group was the Reasonable Nutjob Caucus."[21][23]

[relayerbob]

19. DeSatan, in every possible way

He is smarter, even meaner, if you can believe that, and while he is a fanatic, he isn't nuts.

By 2024, Trump, assuming he's alive or not in prison, will be a laughing stock to most. He will not be electable in 2024, IMO.

[LeftInTX]

22. DeSantis

It's time for us to get off the Trump train. Trump has an expiration date, just like The Apprentice.

[dwayneb]

25. Time to start hammering the facts about DeSantis

I hope that Democratic leadership takes the initiative NOW not 2 years from now. We can't sit on our laurels or get distracted by some crap that MAGA will bring in the House.

[Celerity]

26. Trump