The Republican Primary Is Getting Brutal

Published in Der Standard
(Austria) on 25 May 2023
by Manuela Honsig-Erlenburg (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Mallory Matsumoto. Edited by Patricia Simoni.
After a botched start to his presidential candidacy, Ron DeSantis will need to find an answer to Donald Trump’s dirty style of campaigning.

Social media descended into gleeful taunts on Wednesday evening. The Twitter audio conference between Ron DeSantis and Elon Musk, during which the current governor of Florida announced his candidacy for the U.S. presidency, was plagued by technical and content-related catastrophes. Even for the Trump family, this publicly celebrated embarrassment was obviously a real gift. Mean-spirited jokes and videos circulated with the hashtag #DeSaster, along with the insulting nicknames that Donald Trump had already coined for DeSantis.

Admittedly, DeSantis delivered a truly perfect opportunity for boisterous jeering. But one can also see Trump’s reaction to his former protégé’s appearance as a preview of the primary campaign.

Trump has already threatened his young competitor several times that he will reveal information if DeSantis enters the ring against him. It will be interesting to see what the "moron" has up her sleeve (DeSantis on Trump] has up his sleeve against the "fat crybaby"* (Trump on DeSantis), true or false.

The dirty style of wrestling style that Trump elevated to an art in U.S. politics is guaranteed to be pushed to extremes in the coming months. DeSantis will need to find a commanding response if he doesn’t want to be counted out very quickly. In a real wrestling match, at least there are concrete rules. But it’s well known that Trump prefers to write his own play book.

*Editor’s note: Although accurately translated, this quoted passage could not be independently verified.




Der Vorwahlkampf der Republikaner wird brutal
Ron DeSantis wird nach seinem verpatzten Start als Präsidentschaftskandidat eine Antwort auf Donald Trumps schmutzigen Stil finden müssen

Social Media ging am Mittwochabend vor Spott und Häme über. Die Twitter-Audiokonferenz von Ron DeSantis und Elon Musk, bei der der Gouverneur von Florida seine Bewerbung um die Präsidentschaftskandidatur bekanntgab, geriet zur technischen und inhaltlichen Katastrophe. Auch für die Trump-Familie war diese öffentlich zelebrierte Peinlichkeit freilich ein gefundenes Fressen. Den von Donald Trump bereits kreierten DeSantis-Schimpfnamen gesellte sich neben bösartigen Witzen und Videos noch der Hashtag #DeSaster hinzu.
Zugegeben, DeSantis lieferte wahrlich eine perfekte Steilvorlage für ausgelassenes Hohngelächter. Aber die Trump’sche Reaktion auf den Auftritt seines ehemaligen Schützlings kann auch als Pre-Show für den Vorwahlkampf gesehen werden.

Trump hatte seinem jungen Konkurrenten schon mehrmals mit Enthüllungen gedroht, sollte dieser gegen ihn in den Ring steigen. Man darf gespannt sein, was der "Idiot" (DeSantis über Trump) gegen die "fette Heulsuse" (Trump über DeSantis) alles in der Hand hat, ob wahr oder erfunden.

Der schmutzige Wrestling-Stil, den Trump in der US-Politik zum Standard erhoben hat, wird in den kommenden Monaten garantiert auf die Spitze getrieben. DeSantis wird eine souveräne Antwort darauf finden müssen, um nicht allzuschnell ausgezählt zu sein. Beim echten Ringen gibt es wenigstens konkrete Regeln. Dass Trump lieber sein eigenes Regelwerk schreibt, ist hinlänglich bekannt. (Manuela Honsig-Erlenburg, 25.5.2023)
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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