Donald Trump’s camp spent the weekend whining for Ron DeSantis to “do something” or “say something” about Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s potential case against Trump, over whether hush money given to a porn star with whom Trump had an affair constituted some kind of campaign-finance fraud. Trump then spent Monday ranting about DeSantis, not about the guy supposedly trying to arrest him.
Curious?
Not really. On one level, of course, it’s pathetic. Trump demands assistance, and before he even needs it, he lashes out at the one he’s imploring for help, all but promising to pour buckets of lurid fake news stories on DeSantis.
Trump is bothered more by DeSantis than by Bragg because Bragg functions as a Trump ally. The more people in politics who treat Trump and his travails as the one abiding subject of American political life, the more Donald Trump benefits. When Ron DeSantis dismissed the story of the arrest as nothing but rumors for now, and said he had important business to see to in Florida, he was communicating that an important political figure had more things to think about than Donald Trump. Of course, Trump was enraged.
Now, this is still a tricky thing to pull off. Pro-Trump commentators will argue that Trump’s persecution is just part of a wider deep-state weaponization of government against conservatives. Therefore, conservatives who rally to Trump are really fighting for themselves too. Populist leaders thrive on this tight identification between their travails and their voters.
That’s why it was important for DeSantis to not-so-subtly mention the legal matter at hand: hush money to a porn-star mistress. This is not something most conservatives deal with in life.
Now, it would be funny if DeSantis were to turn around and say, “Hey, you’re asking me to do more for you than you ever did for the January 6ers.” That would be satisfying, but would probably blow up the dynamic at work.
Ultimately, DeSantis has to pitch himself to some Trump-aligned voters as “the guy who brings less drama, but actually gets things done.”