In a segment roundly condemned for its predictability and the shallowness of the bitterly jealous man behind it, Sunday’s Mehdi Hasan Show featured former Florida Republican congressman-turned-supposed free thinker David Jolly proclaiming Florida Governor and 2024 GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis as both “a very dark figure” and “far more dangerous than Donald Trump.”
Celebrated by academia and the liberal media as an acceptable Republican (who’s supposedly been chased away) and almost certain a key anonymous source for stories like this, Jolly huffed “with conviction” that “DeSantis is far more dangerous than Donald Trump” because Trump’s “willing to ignore the rules, ignore the Constitution, and frankly lead to the incitement of January 6,” but “is a transactional figure.”
Jolly explained that, while Trump has little in the way of a beliefs structure, DeSantis “in his ethos is a culture warrior who wants to take us back 100 years and believes he can use the Constitution to that — to that end”.
He added that DeSantis not only “has a very dark vision of what America will be” with January 6 pardons being proof “believes we are engaged in a real war that he has to win.”
“A real war?” Isn’t that MSNBC’s entire mantra toward conservatives?
Jolly smugly doubled down: “DeSantis is a very dark figure in the political landscape, far more dangerous than Donald Trump.”
Hasan followed up: “[DeSantis] is a dark figure, but it was hilarious on Wednesday night when that Twitter Spaces thing fell apart. What do you think was going through his head?”
With an arrogant smirk, Jolly responded: “90 years ago, FDR addressed millions of Americans on AM radio, but Elon Musk and Ron DeSantis couldn’t address a couple hundred thousand on Twitter Spaces? A humiliating night for Ron DeSantis.”
Through it all, fellow faux Republican Stuart Stevens of underage boy-loving John Weaver’s Lincoln Project and far-left kook Molly Jong-Fast nodded in agreement.
Showing how little regard they have for Americans they disagree with and instead contempt for having been thrown aside and no longer seen as the Ruling Class, Jolly and Stevens explained prior to Jolly’s unveiling of a new strange respect that Trump’s merely a reflection of the scum and villainy of GOP voters (click “expand”):
JOLLY: I think Donald Trump figured out how to hold a mirror up to the party. And Donald Trump said, I am who you are, and I will reflect who you are as a party. And all of these other Republican candidates, and I bake myself into this a little bit, we’re convinced that that's not where the party was, and somehow, we could be more convincing to listen to the better angels —
HASAN: Yes.
JOLLY: — or go in the right direction. And that didn’t happen. Donald Trump is a perfect reflection of today's Republican Party, and the tell sign of that, Mehdi, is this. No other candidate, as Stuart says, is offering anything different to Donald Trump.
HASAN: Yep.
JOLLY: They’re just saying I’ll either be more successful at it or you might like me better, but they’re not offering a single thing different than Donald Trump —
HASAN: Yep.
JOLLY: — because each of them now reflects today's Republican Party.
(....)
STEVENS: But listen, I think what David Jolly said is really important, I've said this before, Donald Trump could not change the party; he revealed the party.
HASAN: Yes.
STEVENS: And he is what the party wants to be. And there's a reluctance to accept that, but it's the truth. And it's painful for a lot of us —
HASAN: Yes.
STEVENS: — but it's — it’s — it’s just inescapably true.
On that DeSantis bit, Twitter had a field day. Many cited the fact that, besides this being proof the liberal media wanted Trump as the 2024 nominee, this was a predictable occurrence given how conservatives and Republicans through the years — Reagan, both Bushes, Romney, Trump, and even McCain — were treated to near-Hitler status.
RB Pundit tweeted that Jolly, Jong-Fast, and Stevens “are professional NeverTrumps,” “[s]o everything they say is geared towards Trump going up against Biden so they can grift money from liberals.”
Townhall’s Kurt Schlichter was more glib: “Good. But you really do not have to convince me further.”
NewsNation reporter Zaid Jilani had this insightful take:
Think about Mehdi’s show like entertainment instead of education. The sequel has to be scarier than the original, why else would people watch? https://t.co/SQo4y752AN
— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) May 29, 2023
MRC Bulldog Prize winner Karol Markowicz had a few words:
"Far more dangerous than Trump," drink!
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) May 29, 2023
(BTW, Jolly was one of the "Republican" sources on the idiotic Politico hitpiece of Casey DeSantis.) https://t.co/631YvbcWkj
Radio talk show host Yaffee had this stinging take on Jolly’s “100 years” hyperbole: “When [DeSantis] tries to stop transing the kids, they now accuse him of ‘wanting to take us back 100 years.’ Really guys?”
And, finally, the great Varad Mehta had a scathing thread on Jolly’s liberal cat-nip:
Never forget that Javid Dolly bragged to all and sundry about how he was going to run as an independent against Ron DeSantis and then gave up the idea five minutes later, excusing himself on the grounds that he mislaid his nuts, because he realized he'd get crushed if he did. https://t.co/OrcTPDewr7
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) May 29, 2023
Mehta continued, slamming Jolly as “a ridiculous, contemptible figure” full of “talk,” but “no action” and, after citing his financial grift at starting a third party, capped off with zingers about how he has “no idea how a grown man can be more earnestly cringe than a fifteen-year-old, but this is proof it can be done” even though Jolly knows “[s]pouting” off “is all that matters.”
Faux Republicans and far-left Democrats (but we repeat ourselves) working desperately to defeat Ron DeSantis and protect their anti-Trump gravy train was made possible thanks to advertisers such as Cadillac, Dell, and T-Mobile. Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcript from May 28, click “expand.”
MSNBC’s The Mehdi Hasan Show
May 28, 2023
9:09 p.m. EasternDAVID JOLLY: I think Donald Trump figured out how to hold a mirror up to the party. And Donald Trump said, I am who you are, and I will reflect who you are as a party. And all of these other Republican candidates, and I bake myself into this a little bit, we’re convinced that that's not where the party was, and somehow, we could be more convincing to listen to the better angels —
MEHDI HASAN: Yes.
JOLLY: — or go in the right direction. And that didn’t happen. Donald Trump is a perfect reflection of today's Republican Party, and the tell sign of that, Mehdi, is this. No other candidate, as Stuart says, is offering anything different to Donald Trump.
HASAN: Yep.
JOLLY: They’re just saying I’ll either be more successful at it or you might like me better, but they’re not offering a single thing different than Donald Trump —
HASAN: Yep.
JOLLY: — because each of them now reflects today's Republican Party.
(....)
9:12 p.m. Eastern
STUART STEVENS: But listen, I think what David Jolly said is really important, I've said this before, Donald Trump could not change the party; he revealed the party.
HASAN: Yes.
STEVENS: And he is what the party wants to be. And there's a reluctance to accept that, but it's the truth. And it's painful for a lot of us —
HASAN: Yes.
STEVENS: — but it's — it’s — it’s just inescapably true.
MEHDI HASAN: It is indeed, and you’ve been brutally honest about that in your book which is why I often tell people to read your book. David, last word to you. You and I have talked a great deal about DeSantis’s authoritarianism in Florida.
JOLLY: Yeah.
HASAN: Nevertheless, were you shocked by his announcement this week that he would, “aggressively” go after pardons for 1/6 insurrectionists?
JOLLY: No, Mehdi, I say this with conviction. I think Ron DeSantis is far more dangerous than Donald Trump for a very specific reason. Donald Trump is willing to ignore the rules, ignore the Constitution, and frankly lead to the incitement of January 6th. But Donald Trump is a transactional figure. He’ll do whatever it takes to win. Ron DeSantis, I believe, actually in his ethos is a culture warrior who wants to take us back 100 years and believes he can use the Constitution to that — to that end, and, ultimately, has a very dark vision of what America will be. So, the idea of pardoning January 6th convicts, if you will at this point, is because he believes we are engaged in a real war that he has to win. Ron DeSantis is a very dark figure in the political landscape, far more dangerous than Donald Trump.
HASAN: And quick follow-up David, he is a dark figure, but it was hilarious on Wednesday night when that Twitter Spaces thing fell apart. What do you think was going through his head?
JOLLY: Mehdi, Mehdi, 90 years ago — Mehdi, 90 years ago, FDR addressed millions of Americans on AM radio, but Elon Musk and Ron DeSantis couldn’t address a couple hundred thousand on Twitter Spaces? A humiliating night for Ron DeSantis.
HASAN: Made me laugh.
