The Republican Primary Is Getting Brutal
Published in Der Standard
(Austria) on 25 May 2023
by Manuela Honsig-Erlenburg (link to original)
(Austria) on 25 May 2023
by Manuela Honsig-Erlenburg (link 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.
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.
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