As the former President Donald
Trump prepares himself to
do more and more of these rallies.
He's already begun campaigning for
2024.
There's some question about
what Ron DeSantis plans on doing,
how he plans on positioning himself
because he has kind of decided to
ride Trump's coattails to
prominence.
But if he's preparing himself to
run for president in 2024,
Trump might not like that.
So there are some GOP strategists
who spoke to Politico on condition
of anonymity, of course.
And we're learning now that
DeSantis while he loves to
ride Trump's coattails is actually
pretty terrified of Trump turning
on him.
Last weekend DeSantis actually beat
Trump 74 to 71 in the annual
Western Conservative Summit straw
poll in Denver,
sounds like a good time.
Results that surprised even
organizers of the summit.
Last year for instance,
Trump won the same straw poll with
nearly 95% of the support.
Now one Republican consultant who's
actually close to Ron DeSantis,
who spoke on condition of anonymity
said the governor is, quote,
very wary of eliciting
the former president's rage.
And he also told Politico quote,
we will take measures so
that Trump won't get mad at him.
But believe me, the more successful
you are with Trump,
sometimes it makes it worse.
It's a weird spot to be in,
for sure.
Trump doesn't like other Republican
lawmakers stealing his thunder.
He likes to be the center of
attention, he doesn't like to hear
about other lawmakers eyeing a 2024
presidential run.
Trump in April actually took
a credit for
Ron DeSantis's political ascension
while tamping down the governor's
2024 presidential dreams.
So he told Maria Bartiromo that
he's considering DeSantis as his
2024 running mate.
That was kind of
his way of getting ahead of things,
which is kind of surprising
because you'd never expect Trump to
get ahead of anything.
And now we're actually getting
mixed messages from
DeSantis himself.
Trump is scheduled to hold
a campaign style rally on July 3 in
Sarasota, Florida.
A Trump official planning
the Florida rally said that
DeSantis's team was contacted about
the rally but the governor's office
did not return a request
seeking comment about whether or
not he will be attending.
Which is kind of surprising.
And so there are people close to
Trump, who claimed that there's no
way that Ron DeSantis is
planning to run.
Mark Meadows, for instance, who was
Trump's Chief of Staff, says
Governor DeSantis won't even run.
He's asked over and over and
over again every time I'm in his
presence, he's been asked,
are you running in 2024?
So allegedly Ron DeSantis keeps
saying no, I want to focus
on the Gubernatorial race.
I want to get reelected.
But we know how that goes.
We know that politicians usually
lie about what they're planning
on doing in the future with running
for higher office.
>> Yeah, I love this story.
So first of all,
guys think about how fragile poor
Donald Trump is, that if anyone is
going to overshadow for just
a second he's like, we no like him.
He was top ally before.
Me no like him at all now.
He wins straw poll in that boring
conference that Ana talked about.
Okay, me know like him winning
straw poll.
Me thinking about getting revenge.
For what,
he didn't even do anything.
He's been kissing your ass
the whole time, right?
And DeSantis meanwhile,
I love these Republicans.
They're like, Democrats are betas.
We'd like Alphas, right?
And DeSantis is like, no,
please Donnie, please.
I don't mean it.
I don't mean anything.
I assure you I'm a beta.
I'm a super beta, okay?
I'm sorry, Donnie, I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to beat you in
the straw poll.
I'll come to the rally,
I won't come to the rally,
whatever you want,
whatever you want.
I'm not running against you,
I'm begging you.
This is the one that
everybody's excited about.
That's why he won the straw poll
[LAUGH]. >> No, I love it so much,
right?
Because this is another example of
chickens coming home to roost.
Because GOP lawmakers notice
Trump's ability to connect with
Republican voters.
And they're the ones who literally
did their campaigning, their
campaign messaging about how like,
I'm the most pro Trump candidate,
thank you very much.
In fact Ron DeSantis put out
comical ads, embarrassing ads.
If this was my father,
I would just wallow away in shame.
Here's the ad I'm talking about.
>> Everyone knows my husband
Ron DeSantis is endorsed
by President Trump.
But he's also an amazing dad.
Ron loves playing with the kids.
>> Build the wall.
>> He reads the stories.
>> Then Mr.
Trump said you're fired.
I love that part.
>> He's teaching Madison to talk.
>> Make America great again.
>> People say Ron's all Trump, but
he is so much more.
>> Big league, so good.
>> So they ride that Trump wave,
for their own
political aspirations,
but it's a dead end, right?
So now Ron DeSantis is trying
to figure out a way to angle for
the presidency in 2024 without
upsetting daddy Trump.
Because once you upset daddy Trump,
I mean, we've seen the way he
treats other Republican
lawmakers who dare cross him.
>> Yeah, so- >> So good.
That ad was one of the most
embarrassing things I've ever seen.
>> Totally. >> I remember covering
him when he was running.
I'm like, this is humiliating.
I mean, it would be less
embarrassing if he did an ad of a
giant cut out of Donald Trump's ass
and just kissed it the entire ad.
This is how much I love
Donald Trump and they just kiss,
kiss, kiss the ass.
That would be less embarrassing
because at least you're not using
your baby, okay?
And of course Trump said at
the time, or he said recently, he's
a friend of mine, I endorse Ron.
And after I endorsed him, he took
off like a rocket ship, okay?
But he usually brags
about nothing, etc.
In this case it's actually true.
The other guy in the in
the primary, the Republican was
leading until DeSantis said no, no,
I love Trump more than anyone else,
even more than Kim Jong-un, okay?
And they started writing love
letters back and forth.
>> Yeah, then they fell in love.
>> Then they fell in love.
Just like the Trump said about
Kim Jong-un.
Anyway and
then it DeSantis did win partly
because of Trump's endorsement.
That's partly why he's so scared of
Donald Trump now, and that's why
this new strong Republican leader
is hiding in a cave, hoping that
daddy doesn't catch him because he
doesn't want that spanking.
>> Those chickens, what are those
chickens doing again?
>> I think that they probably come
home and then they roost.
>> Yes, they're roosting.
They're roosting right now.
>> Yeah.
>> It's delicious. I love it,
I love every minute of it.