DeSantis shows a populist can be presidential in a crisis
WASHINGTON — If you want to understand why Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis represents such a threat to Democrats in the next presidential election, watch his hurricane news briefings — and compare them with Donald Trump’s briefings during the pandemic.
Like Trump, DeSantis is a political counterpuncher who relishes taking the fight to the left. He punched back at sanctuary city advocates by flying planes of illegal migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. He punched back against the progressive education establishment by signing a law banning critical race theory in Florida schools. He punched back against Disney after it demagogued his bill to protect the parental rights of Floridians by removing its special tax status. He punched back against Democrats who smeared GOP election integrity laws as racist by signing a sweeping voting overhaul bill. And he punched back against the perpetual-lockdown establishment by fighting vaccine and mask mandates, and making his state a bastion of freedom during the pandemic.
All this has endeared him to Republican voters in Florida, where he appears to be cruising to reelection — and made him the leading potential challenger to Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
But as Hurricane Ian approached, DeSantis did something Trump seemed unable or unwilling to do: He flipped a switch and became the very model of a chief executive leading in a time of crisis. At his news briefings, he has been all business — updating Floridians on the growing strength of the storm, evacuation plans for those in vulnerable locations, instructions for finding shelter and the deployment of line crews to restore power in affected areas; he outlined plans to address gasoline shortages and cell phone service blackouts and warned citizens not to drive through flooded roads. He demonstrated bipartisanship, praising President Joe Biden’s emergency declaration and pledging to work hand in hand with his administration.
“You’ve got people’s lives at stake, you’ve got their property at stake, and we don’t have time for pettiness,” DeSantis told reporters Tuesday. “We gotta work together to make sure we’re doing the best job for them.”
DeSantis understands that in a crisis, when Americans are scared and confused, they want information and they want action — not political theater.
Contrast this with Trump’s daily COVID-19 news briefings, which he reportedly compared proudly to a Mike Tyson boxing match. But frightened Americans didn’t want to watch a prize fight — they wanted reassurance. Instead, they got insults, jarring shouting matches with reporters, attacks on “unappreciative” governors, and stream-of-consciousness speculation about sunlight and bleach. While Americans were terrified of a virus that was killing thousands, they heard Trump boasting about how his “ratings” were incredible. It got so bad that his own advisers reportedly begged him to halt the briefings — which he eventually did. But by then, the damage was done. In mid-March 2020, 50.6 percent approved of Trump’s handling of the pandemic, but by April, his approval numbers had begun cratering. In July, his approval rating was 38 percent: He had lost the American people and never recovered.
The sad part is, his pandemic response was actually quite strong. He shut down travel with China in January, which even Anthony S. Fauci admitted saved lives. He procured nearly 200,000 ventilators and deployed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build $660 million worth of emergency field hospitals across the country — most of which never treated a single patient. The bipartisan Cares Act he signed into law averted a second Great Depression. And he launched Operation Warp Speed, which produced a vaccine against the virus in less than a year — one of the greatest public health achievements in history — and paved the way for the end of the pandemic. But all of those accomplishments were overshadowed by the unpresidential behavior that alienated millions of Americans who were looking to him for leadership.
If Trump had carried himself then like DeSantis is performing today, he would probably still be in the Oval Office.
DeSantis understands this. And he is showing that, unlike the 45th president, he can take the fight to Biden one day and work with him to help stormbattered Floridians the next. He can provoke the left like a conservative populist, but also govern like a conservative reformer and lead like a president in times of crisis. Watching him manage this crisis, conservatives should see a leader who can give them everything they love about Trump, without the belligerence and bad judgment. Even before the hurricane, a poll of Florida Republicans — the voters who know him best — showed him leading Trump by eight points in a hypothetical primary.
To see why, just watch his next news briefing.