The following is a transcript of Todd’s morning commentary – heard on hundreds of radio stations around the nation. Click here to get Todd’s daily podcast.
Hello Americans, I’m Todd Starnes. Stand by for news and commentary next.
President Trump stirred up a hornet’s nest over the weekend — mocking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump gave the popular conservative governor a nickname: Ron DeSanctimonious.
That led President Trump’s most devoted followers to accuse DeSantis of being — an Establishment Republican. Which is simply not true.
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Many Republicans wondered why President Trump would attack a very popular candidate – just two days before the election.
Talk radio host Ben Shapiro blasted the former president – said he had no discipline.
“A few points on ‘Ron DeSanctimonious”:
Ben Shapiro Twitter
1. Terrible branding.
2. Reminding everyone you have no discipline by attacking a top gubernatorial candidate popular with the base two days before an election and a week before launching a comeback campaign is…an interesting strategy.
“What an idiot,” wrote Rod Dreher, a senior editor at The American Conservative. “DeSantis is a far more effective leader of the Right than Trump was, if, that is, you expect a leader to get a lot done, rather than just talking about it and owning the libs.”
DeSantis was the first governor to stand up to Dr. Anthony Fauci. He kept Florida open for business. He stood up for parental rights. He pushed back against woke businesses. Outlawed gender mutilation surgeries for minors.
And up until President Trump called him Governor DeSanctimonious – the former president’s supporters were hailing DeSantis as the heir apparent to the America First agenda.
“DeSantis is an extremely effective conservative governor who has had real policy wins and real cultural wins. Trump isn’t going to be able to take this one down with a dumb nickname. He better have more than that up his sleeve,” wrote Matt Walsh, a commentator at The Daily Wire. “Also, nice job launching your public attack against the most popular conservative governor in America three days before the midterms when we’re all supposed to be showing a united front.”
The president seemed to back off the attacks on Sunday – when he told a giant crowd in Miami to vote for DeSantis. Called him a friend.
There’s a time and a place for an inter-party squabble — but now is not that time.
Gotta play smart, conservatives. We need a unified message going into election day.
Gotta play smart.