The Florida governor’s show of force this weekend was part of his increasingly open encroachments into the former president’s longtime support base and ideological terrain
DeSantis touted his record as governor extensively in remarks to a packed room Friday night, according to an attendee who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. The confab here was designed to showcase DeSantis’s record and show it could be applied nationally, people familiar with the event said. That’s an appealing prospect to many Republicans, including some who used to be staunch Trump supporters.
To some, the DeSantis event was a pointed move into Trump territory, at a hotel where basic rooms often go for more than $1,000 a night and where Republican guests often stay before heading to Mar-a-Lago to see Trump. One panel on the agenda looks at how Republican states can take on the federal government when they disagree, while another examines what states can do about security at the U.S.-Mexico border. Yet another session is titled “Florida: Where Woke Goes to Die.
Joe Borelli, a New York City councilman and longtime Trump ally, said DeSantis talked about recruiting law enforcement officers in Florida, the state’s crime rate and how it could be a model for other states. He added that the people who attended the event would be happy to vote for DeSantis or Trump. “It felt like a toe in the water,” he said of DeSantis’s visit, “and if I was him, I would have felt well received.
“DeSantis has really worked the culture wars, really worked Fox News, and he is the known quantity right now to people who are being polled,” Republican consultant Susan Del Percio said. But she criticized his debate performance last fall and questioned if he has the temperament to handle pushback.His early March trip to Texas — one of many stops in his soon-to-launch book tour — was facilitated by Deason, the longtime prominent Trump donor who has met with DeSantis in Tallahassee as well.
DeSantis’s retreat zeroes in on one area where he has sought to draw a contrast with Trump: his response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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