You asked me a
decision between Donald Trump
and Ron DeSantis.
What I'm looking for
is somebody who can come in day
one and get America back on trac
Donald Trump has done it
once he can do it again.
We've got a great governor.
He's done a tremendous job.
But what we need is a person
who can actually lead on day one
I think the governor has done
a great job in Florida is nothin
I'm not it's not against Governo
DeSantis.
It's for President Trump.
Welcome back to State of the Uni
And my panel joins me now.
What you just heard were a serie
of Republican House members
from DeSantis,
his home state of Florida, comin
and supporting
Donald Trump
just as DeSantis is here in Wash
What do you think of that moves
got Jennings not surprised.
I mean, look, Donald Trump's
the establishment candidate in t
He was the president.
He's running for president
for a third time.
These are establishment politici
and they tend to stick together
in campaigns.
Does it mean he's going to win?
But I wouldn't
expect an insurgent candidate
like DeSantis to get too many.
But that was it.
That was
that was very tactical and by na
And it was, by the way,
for the Trump campaign.
Extremely smart,
tactically wise
and it created a narrative
on DeSantis this week.
But when you're running the insu
kind of campaign, DeSantis is
you're not going to get
all the elected politicians
who are afraid of Donald Trump
to come to your side.
I don't expect that at all.
Speaking of DeSantis,
we do have some new sound from h
speaking last night in in Utah.
I want to hear what he has to sa
and talk about it on the other s
of Republicans
need to shake the culture of los
that has developed in recent yea
The time for excuses is over.
We must get it done.
If we as Republicans
provide a fresh vision
for American revival,
then Republicans will win all ac
the country.
Paul Begala, he keeps
talking about Donald Trump
without talking about
Donald Trump directly.
Pathetic.
He's just terrible at this.
He won his reelection by 19 poin
I'm very impressed.
Ford's a tough state to run.
I do admire that.
But good night.
He is.
If you're going to go against Tr
go get Trump.
If you're going to be the insurg
Sally Scott Jennings.
Okay. Higher Scott Jennings.
No, I mean, Scott,
you just articulated
far better than Governor DeSanti
He he
said he kind of wanted the endor
but then Trump got small.
He's like, you remember,
this is a Florida guy.
Jose Canseco was a great
one of the greatest sluggers
who ever lived, played in the ei
And eight.
But he's a terrible fielder.
And this is DeSantis is a baseba
because they go with
time, went out to catch a fly ba
and it bounced off his head.
And when it
went over the fence for a homeru
That's what
Governor DeSantis did this week.
He's pathetic at this.
And I'm begging him to get bette
I don't want Trump.
I'd much rather have the Senate
Or do you want to continue this?
Do you want to continue the
baseball metaphor?
You can't contribute on the base
But I do think that DeSantis has
with that
electability message and increas
in poll
from the Wall Street Journal
that was conducted by Trump's
own 2016 pollster.
It showed Trump
losing to Biden by three points,
and it showed DeSantis
winning against Biden by three p
So that would be my message
to the folks that are endorsing
Do you want to keep losing?
Because I certainly don't.
As a Republican,
I'm tired of losing, and I want
And so I think that any other ca
would be better
to put up against Biden than Tru
But you can keep saying that
it doesn't make it true.
Now, I know for folks who watch
that seems like that's how you d
You say it over and over,
and then that just creates
the reality you want.
But the truth is,
the center says also time
and again just shown
he is running farther and farthe
to the right
and being increasingly extreme
in his own.
People have admitted concern abo
how do you then
run in the general election.
So in terms of the electability
at least found Trump, it's a he
2016 didn't win in 2010
but they haven't let go of that
I mean
I'm not sure that argument
will really work
for DeSantis
given that he cannot
as Paul has been saying
you know he doesn't seem to have
I can't imagine him
on a debate stage with Donald Tr
You can't talk around him.
You're going to have to say
he did win
100% of the professional
Democratic class.
Once Trump gives
100% of the political media want
100% of the Trump people want Tr
and 100% of the supposed
pillars of virtue never Trumpers
They also want Trump
it is a coordinated campaign.
By all this
I mean
we've got Donald Trump's
people tweeting out
MSNBC links to attack Ron DeSant
This is how they make a living.
But it's crazy.
You don't want to see this
because he will beat Joe Biden v
We could pick somebody out of th
phone book
who would beat Joe Biden head to
Trump.
I don't know, Scott, my friend.
I do not want Donald Trump.
I think that is terrible for Ame
I think it sends a despicable me
to the world that we'll take any
to be our president.
I rather have this answer for Tr
and I think we'd still beat him.
Oh, absolutely.
I think most Democrats would be
I mean, Ron
DeSantis is he's not getting
to the filing deadline. Okay?
I'd much rather run against him.
And I would rather
the Republicans
nominate someone other than Trum
someone who's not crazy,
chaotic and corrupt
and the rest of their field.
I would say that
I don't support them on the issu
but the rest of them seem
like really good people
with different ideas.
But I'm he's the SpaceX X
missile rocket,
except it at least got to the la
Right.
But can you imagine
if Republicans
are able to nominate
someone like a Ron DeSantis,
who's in his forties
and he's running against Joe Bid
who's 80.
And with Trump,
at least he neutralizes the age
I agree.
He's a threat to democracy,
which is why I do not want to se
be the nominee.
But you can't deny that for Demo
If Trump is the nominee, then
that does neutralize
that is a perfect segue way
sound soundbite
that I want to play
from the president
from back in March of 2020
and here's what he said on that
Look, I view
myself as a bridge, not as anyth
There's an entire generation of
you saw stand behind me.
They are the future of this coun
It's a very long bridge,
an eight year
bridge, a pretty rickety bridge,
a pretty strong bridge
where we are now
able to be sitting around the sa
which we could not do in 20,
20 or 20, 21.
And an economy that,
while people still have a lot of
is actually doing better.
It is also a bridge, though.
I go back to what he said
when he first got in the race,
the soul of America.
Let's talk about where this coun
right now.
We had three incidents this week
where young people were shot for
just being in the wrong place.
Why you have people on the right
like Donald Trump basically sayi
we're each other's enemy. Right.
I mean,
again, fueling that suspicion
and that divisiveness
and that destruction of our Amer
Democratic institutions and our
You have young voters
who will outnumber older voters
who are for reproductive freedom
They're for climate change.
They are for gun safety measures
And so the way the demographics
country are changing,
I get it,
white establishment is terrified
Joe Biden is a bridge
and he has been trying to keep a
He has a very stellar record to
he actually
also has a record of promises
made and promises kept.
And people are generally
pretty happy with that.
This is an amazing campaign spee
Joe Biden is an old man.
The American people
do not want him to run again
and they don't want Donald Trump
This is a rematch nobody wants.
Democrats don't want Joe Biden,
but apparently
they're going to go along with i
It's crazy to me that.
80% of the American people
would rather do anything else,
but the political system
is going to give them the rematc
they don't want.
Biden is not popular.
His policies are not popular.
He didn't win Donald Trump lost
The Republicans could do anythin
and beat this guy.
And we're not going to fight his
in 20, 22.
Paul Begala,
what what's the advice
that you would have or you do ha
for President Biden
when it comes to the age issue
which is not going to go away
show don't tell
people
I don't mean to buy him
the new York Times editorial
was like a classic of
opinion stupidity.
They said he should have
more press conferences.
What's wrong with that.
Because you're the press
you want more press conferences.
How about okay
but that's not what the American
sit here and say boy,
I wish Dana Bash would ask Trump
I mean, Biden more questions sho
He showed it in the state of the
address, right
in, I thought, unpleasant way.
Republicans interrupted him.
They booed him.
He bested them.
That's hard to do
given a lot of State
of the Union addresses
I've attended a lot of them in r
To argue them down
and take Social Security
as a win was masterful,
and it showed all the energy and
that his conservative detractors
say he lacks.
This will happen again
and the fight over the default.
Democrats believe
that Republicans want to push us
to the brink of default
and the Biden folks,
they know that their man
is itching for this fight
and he will show again.
Instead of telling them
that you old,
he'll show them
by performing and by besting the
And they are 20, 30 years younge
You know what?
He made mincemeat out of them.
He made chumps out of them.
I will do it again.
I will say, though,
it will be really interesting to
20, 20.
Biden was able to get away
with campaigning from the baseme
because of COVID.
And so in 20, 24
he is going to have to be out th
more obviously he's
the incumbent president
so it's not going to be
as rigorous of a campaign schedu
for him
not going to have a competitive
or anything like that.
But I think he is
going to have to be out there
doing more campaign style events
And it is interesting
that his team is choosing to ann
via video next week his candidac
but it is smart because he can m
because we don't control the mes
because he is prone to gaffes.
We're going to have to leave it
Thanks for a great discussion.