Yesterday, we caught Rick Wilson on MSNBC trying to tear Ron DeSantis down, saying he is not "human," and predicting that in debates, Donald Trump would "tear his head off and kick it around like a soccer ball."
But MSNBC host Joe Scarborough kicked off the week warning his fellow journalists and pundits against the notion that Trump cannot be beat in the primaries. "I'm not so sure," he pussy-footed. He's probably looking at Sunday's New York Times front-pager with the headline "DeSantis, Bruised by Missteps, Is Limping to the Starting Line." A trio of reporters claimed "In six short months from November to May, Mr. DeSantis's 2024 run has faltered before it has even begun."
Like it's the CNN-Plus of campaigns. Or the latest Jeb Bush equivalent. Maybe DeSantis won't win. But why on Earth do journalists throw dirt on campaigns that haven't even formally begun?
Scarborough cited a recent poll by Republican polling outfit Public Opinion Strategies that found Trump losing badly to Biden in Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico and Virginia. DeSantis, in contrast, is within a couple of points with Biden in the first three states mentioned, and in a dead heat in Virginia.
Scarborough cautioned those in the MSM counting DeSantis out:
"So I just offer a warning to everybody in the press that's saying Ron DeSantis is done, there's no way he can win. I'm not so sure."
Scarborough predicted that at some point, Republican primary voters are going to focus on winning, realizing Trump is "poison" for the GOP: "at some point, Republicans are going to start focusing on winning instead of just the shock opera that Donald Trump has been performing for eight years now."
DeSantis surely wouldn't want to take Scarborough's words as an endorsement. That could be the kiss of death in a Republican primary! But it would be nice if the national media stopped picking losers about seven months before the first caucus or primary.
Joe Scarborough warning the MSM not to conclude that Ron DeSantis is "done," was sponsored in part by Abbvie, maker of Rinvoq, Consumer Cellular, and Expedia.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
5/15/23
6:00 am EDTRON DESANTIS: We must reject the culture of losing that has infected our party in recent years. The time for excuses is over. If we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again. And I think it'll be very difficult to recover from that defeat.
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Ron Desantis, taking a swipe at Donald Trump during a barnstorming trip to Iowa over the weekend. It comes after the former president canceled his campaign event in the state. We'll get to that and much more. But Jonathan Lemire, "a culture of losing." Wasn't hard to figure out who that was directed at.
JONATHAN LEMIRE: No. No, it was not. This has been the attack that the Republicans who are tired of Donald Trump are trying to make. And Joe, you have, I'd say once or twice ticked off the years that Trump, a Trump-led Republican party has been defeated in the ballot box in recent cycles. And that's what Desantis trying to say: hey, I'm the guy who can get you what you like about Trump, but I've a shot to win, and he can't.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, we have also some polls coming up that are going to show just how much better Ron Desantis does in swing states than Trump.
. . .
So Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis were iin Iowa this past weekend. And of course, the press has been saying it's over for DeSantis. I'm not so sure.
. . .
I just offer a warning to everybody in the press that's saying Ron DeSantis is done, there's no way he can win. I'm not so sure.
Because, at the end of the day, as DeSantis said, Republicans have a culture of losing right now that's wrapped around Donald Trump. And would they really want to try to, quote, own the libs more than start winning elections again? I'm not sure.
And there's a set of polls that came out from Public Opinion Strategies. It's really one of the most respected Republican pollsters. And the don't, they're not taking sides in this race. But they have some fascinating primary, fascinating polls.
Despite the fact Trump is beating DeSantis right now in these primary polls, in the general matchups, look, look at this. In Colorado, in swing states, Joe Biden trounces Trump by ten points. With Ron DeSantis, it's much closer. It's just a three-point race.
In Minnesota, Joe Biden easily beats Donald Trump. Well of course, of course. It's what we tell you every day. Donald Trump has run off every swing voter. He's run off every independent. That CNN town hall meeting only expedited that exodus. But look! Even in Minnesota, DeSantis, basically tied!
Same story in New Mexico, a state that, well, Democrats won pretty easily. In New Mexico, Joe Biden crushes Donald Trump. But when Joe Biden's up against Ron DeSantis, too close to fall.
And in Virginia, another state that's gone dark blue when you're talking about presidential contests, Joe Biden's leading Donald Trump by seven points. But look at that, he's in a dead heat with Ron DeSantis.
And Jonathan Lemire, this is not to say that Ron DeSantis is a giantkiller. This is to say what we say every day here, that Donald Trump has gone out of his way to offend swing voters and swing states.
He is, he is poison for the Republican party. Where Ron DeSantis, again, maybe because they don't know everything he's done. Maybe because he's a new face in some of these states. Ron DeSantis does so much better than Donald Trump in these swing states, that you've just got to believe that at some point, Republicans are going to start focusing on winning instead of just the shock opera that Donald Trump has been performing for eight years now.
