Ron DeSantis is really bad at campaigning, and the loss of support that he’s suffered since announcing his run is proof of that. The Florida governor has now dropped by nearly 10 points since entering the race, even though his main opponent is under criminal indictment. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more.
Transcript:
*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.
Mike Papantonio: Ron DeSantis is really bad at campaigning and the loss of support that he’s suffered since announcing his run is pretty much proof of that. The Florida Governor’s now dropped by nearly 10 points since entering the race and even though his main opponent is under criminal indictment, he seems to be falling still. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins joins me to talk about that. Farron, you know, when he started his campaign, a lot of fanfare, a lot of whistles, a lot of, you know, banging and clanging. But if you look at this story and other stories like it, you gotta wonder.
Farron Cousins: Yeah. It’s funny because, you know, we’ve been doing this for two decades. We’ve covered so many campaigns and I don’t know, legitimately, that I can say I’ve ever seen a candidate enter a race and lose support. Typically when candidates enter a race, even if it’s been teased for a long time, they see a bump in support. Nikki Haley saw a huge bump in support that did immediately evaporate. This guy lost points. Chris Christie had a bump. Asa Hutchinson had a bump. The other guys I think have had a one or two point. He lost support. More people said, oh, well I don’t like you now. It’s so funny.
Mike Papantonio: Yeah. Well, what also is happening, I mean, Larry Hogan does a story for Newsweek. The very fact it’s in Newsweek to me is suspect. I mean, it’s just, what a trash source. But he’s the former Maryland GOP governor. And as I see him out here saying, you know, that he’s in a demise. That he can’t turn it around. There is something you have to throw out there and that is opposition puts people like Larry Hogan to do this. You understand what I’m saying? So, but if the numbers are reflecting it, then that gives him credibility. But there’s gonna be a whole army of Larry Hogan’s out there, Newsweek magazines out there that are trying to shape this presidential election. So when I read this, it doesn’t mean anything to me. I mean, it’s just, it’s basically BS, Larry Hogan. But as I look at the numbers, they seem to support that, don’t they?
Farron Cousins: They really do. Because DeSantis for the first time in his, well since becoming governor, he’s now got an approval rating of a net negative 19 points. So he is finally underwater. He, again, lost nine points if you look at the conglomerates, some polls have it a little higher, some a little lower. So he’s trailing to a guy that is under criminal indictment in both New York and federally in Florida now. And he’s losing support.
Mike Papantonio: Seems to be an inability to connect.
Farron Cousins: It is.
Mike Papantonio: He’s not a good speaker. He doesn’t, people aren’t comfortable with him.
Farron Cousins: He’s not comfortable with people.
Mike Papantonio: Yeah. Even when he’s in a room with small crowds that are going, there’s kind of an ick factor, which is amazing because he’s a very smart guy. I mean, Harvard educated, but when they put him in a room or put him in front of a camera with a microphone, he’s kind of in bad shape. And the question is, can he turn that around? Ah, he’s got time to do it. I don’t know.
Farron Cousins: Right. And the other thing here is DeSantis, like Donald Trump has a very short fuse, and he is known to snap and lash out at people. But when Trump does it, it’s different. And I don’t want to give Trump credit.
Mike Papantonio: Maybe they expect Trump to do that, right?
Farron Cousins: Well, they do. And plus Trump occasionally can make it seem funny almost, I guess is the word I’m struggling to find, but.
Mike Papantonio: Well, laughing at him is an easy thing to do. Yeah.
Farron Cousins: Well, and but then DeSantis does it and DeSantis feels more personal and mean when he lashes out at a reporter. Trump can get the crowd to join with him and they mock the person. DeSantis seems like he instantly wants to punch that person in the face. And that’s the difference in personality.
Mike Papantonio: The media, you’ll see, I promise you, within a matter of months will be moving towards a Gavin Newsom versus DeSantis clash. That’s what it’s gonna be. If Biden does drop out, which he should, he absolutely should and Kamala Harris never should step into those shoes. It leaves a Gavin running against DeSantis and the numbers probably favor DeSantis in that, regardless of what a bad candidate. We’ve had a lot of bad candidates, but if he can make the distance, you know, we’ve done, I don’t know how many stories anti DeSantis. I’m telling you, I’m putting that aside now and giving you my analysis from the standpoint, I really don’t believe, I just don’t believe that Biden’s gonna be standing when we get into the real election. I think Gavin Newsom may emerge and it’s gonna be him against Gavin Newsom. It’s not gonna be Trump.
Farron Cousins: No. And it is funny because as bad as things are looking for DeSantis, he’s still leaps and bounds ahead of everybody else in that Republican field.
Mike Papantonio: It’s not even close really.
Farron Cousins: Chris Christie is doing his best to try to get attention, but he’s so bad.
Mike Papantonio: Chris Christie’s the only person, maybe worse than DeSantis.
Farron Cousins: And Mike Pence has no personality. The other folks, there’s so many, I’ve already forgotten a lot of their names.
Mike Papantonio: Yeah, yeah, me too, me too.
