Tapper hastily moves away from DeSantis when he starts challenging Dr. Fauci and the constitutionality of COVID restrictions.
DeSantis slags Trump’s lawyers for “giving the case away” on presidential immunity, says it wouldn’t be an issue with him because he would follow the Constitution the way George Washington did. Drives home his standard point that Trump is gonna lose by relitigating January 6 and all the rest.
Asked how their views of the Constitution are different from Trump, Haley takes the opportunity to hit Trump for losing, saying Jan 6th was a “beautiful day” and for trying to overturn state election results. DeSantis uses most of his answer to discuss his own support for the Constitution, and to criticize Covid restrictions.
Tapper’s question “is there any difference how you and Trump see the Constitution?” is bizarrely open-ended and meaningless. And yet despite that Nikki Haley gave a fairly strong answer pointing out that Trump lost and January 6 was a disgrace, credit to her. DeSantis’s answer to this (crucial) question is mild criticism but then a switch to “but what about COVID lockdowns?”
I understand the strategic calculation, but there’s a reason that strategic calculations rarely get mentioned as profiles in courage.
Haley: “These fellas don’t know how to talk about abortion. . . . The Democrats put fear in women about abortion and Republicans have used judgment. This is too personal of an issue to use fear or judgment.”
Haley is in a rhetorical class of her own on the subject. Heartfelt and pragmatic, both.
DeSantis dismisses Trump’s social media posts about the Constitution as “word vomit.”
Haley gives a strong answer to why Trump was wrong to do what he did after the 2020 election. Tapper is unhappy because she won’t frame it in a way that precludes her from supporting Trump against Biden.
Paraphrasing Jake Tapper: “Hey, remember when Trump went on Truth Social and started talking about terminating the Constitution? That was pretty bad, wasn’t it? You guys want to take some shots over this, or are you going to take a pass again?”
DeSantis, more than a little belatedly, hauls off on Trump for not showing up, not explaining his inconsistencies on issues like abortion, and treating the nomination like an entitlement.
“Social Security is not an entitlement. It’s the insurance that American workers have paid for.” – Ron DeSantis or progressive members of Congress justifying their effort to expand the insolvent entitlement program? (Answer: Progressives).