Former President Trump’s list of friends is growing thinner as he takes on the Swamp. But he never expected this confidant to defect.
And Donald Trump got the shock of his life from a former ally.
Trump’s campaign for the Republican Presidential primary is full steam ahead.
But he has to deal with a difficult reality – he’s getting hit from all sides.
Not only are Democrats and their ilk trying to convict him on false accusations of crimes they have no evidence of him committing, but many on the conservative side are questioning whether he is the best man for the job.
personal President Donald Trump’s personal adviser has endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Republican presidential race in 2024.
In a Tuesday opinion article for Newsweek, Steve Cortes, a former top strategy consultant for Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, stated that DeSantis — who has yet to announce whether he will run for president next year — is “the best possible option to win the presidency in 2024.”
Cortes predicted that if elected, the popular Florida Republican will “govern as a highly capable, patriotic populist leader.”
“I have worked as a dedicated spokesman and advocate for Donald Trump for much of the last seven years, so I do not arrive at that conclusion flippantly.
“But our America First movement has always been bigger and more important than any one individual, and heading into this crucial election, our activism and our votes must be guided by a clear-eyed assessment of recent failures and potential future successes,” Cortes wrote.
Cortes stated that his preference for DeSantis over Trump is based on three factors: a rematch between Trump and President Biden that “no one likes,” there being “no substitute” for a Republican triumph, and “discipline and policy results over chaos.”
“Is a rematch of 2020 really the best America can do in a moment like this one?” Cortes penned a letter.
“The country is miserable. That’s not some biased or uninformed right-wing opinion, but the harsh reality revealed by data and evidence. Nearly three out of four Americans believe the country is on the wrong track, per the latest Morning Consult poll. Partisanship aside, only one in five independents believe the country is headed in the right direction.”
Cortes said it’s time for Republicans to “find a way to halt the trend of losing and pivot to winning candidates and approaches for 2024 and beyond,” citing “disappointing losses in 2018, 2020, and 2022.”
“America is a philosophically center-right country, but in recent years it has been governed like some national version of Berkeley, California, because of these preventable election losses,” he wrote. “The days of Republican voters screaming from their couches in anger must end. Without victory, our conservative agendas — however correct or well-formed — mean little.”
“Not only did Ron DeSantis win a smashing runaway victory in the race for governor by nearly 20 points, but he also lifted Republicans in the entire slate, ushering in a full GOP sweep of statewide offices for the first time since the Reconstruction era,” he said.
“In addition, DeSantis proved the appeal of competent governance combined with the fighting spirit of patriotic populism. The governor’s landslide win included tectonic shifts of constituencies that Republicans previously struggled to convince.”
Despite Cortes’ op-ed for Newsweek, his daughter, Kingsley, published a photo of herself in the Oval Office with Trump on the same day during his presidency.
“MAGA,” Cortes’ daughter captioned the image, which was shared just hours after her father’s op-ed in support of DeSantis was published.
MAGA pic.twitter.com/BpY045zikY
— Kingsley Cortes (@KingsleyCortes) May 9, 2023
DeSantis has not officially stated whether he would seek the Republican presidential nomination next year, but he did say earlier this month that he “either gotta put or shut up” in response to rampant speculation about his 2024 plans.
“What happens in the future? We’ll get on that relatively soon. You either gotta put or shut up on that as well. So we’ll see,” DeSantis said.
While DeSantis remains on the sidelines for 2024, pundits anticipate that the conservative two-term governor would begin a presidential campaign at the end of Florida’s legislative session, which ended last week.
Stay tuned to DC Daily Journal.
