Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may have finally stepped over the very thin line he’s been trying to walk between beating Donald Trump in a primary and not chasing off his base.
Some conservatives are outraged and the former president’s campaign is demanding that the governor apologize to Trump supporters, all over a comment that’s being likened to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s infamous “basket of deplorables” line.
DeSantis made the offending remark while speaking with the Florida Standard, when the Sunshine State’s chief executive was attempting to explain his vision forward for the GOP. According to the governor, simply following the whims of the 45th President’s isn’t a sustainable path to power for conservatives.
“If you’re not rooted in principle, if all we are is listless vessels that are just supposed to follow whatever happens to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that’s not going to be a durable movement,” he said.
The comment caused some head-scratching among GOP leaders and voters — one assumes precisely the Republicans polling shows DeSantis is struggling to win over — and some were quick to compare his comment to one uttered by Clinton in the run up to the 2016 presidential election.
“I don’t know why anyone running for president would put down half the electorate and identify them as ‘listless vessels’ because they support the former president,” U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace told Fox News.
The network spent the weekend sharing DeSantis’ remarks alongside clips of former New York Senator and First Lady, when she said, “to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? They’re racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic – you name it.”
Trump’s campaign didn’t miss the opportunity to make the obvious comparison, demanding an “I’m sorry” from the former navy officer.
“To Hillary Clinton, Trump supporters are ‘deplorables.’ To Ron DeSantis, they are ‘listless vessels.’ The truth is, Trump supporters are patriots. Ron DeSantis is showing his true colors. The pressure of polling in third place is getting to DeSantis and now he is lashing out at the very same voters who got him elected governor. DeSantis must immediately apologize for his disgraceful insult,” Trump’s campaign said through a spokesperson.
The former commander-in-chief is dominating in Republican polls, beating his next leading contender by more than 40-points.
DeSantis has been polling in second place since before he officially announced he would seek the White House. However his polling numbers, previously hovering around the mid-30s, have fallen into the teens and have been surpassed in some surveys by businessman and political newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy or former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
“The real danger to our movement is the rise of “listless-vessel” robot politicians who blindly follow the commands of their Super PACs,” Ramaswamy said in a thinly veiled shot at DeSantis via X the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
DeSantis’ campaign responded to the backlash following his remarks by blaming the people who quoted his statements for any ill will.
“The dishonest media refuses to report the facts surrounding Ron DeSantis’ comments. Governor DeSantis challenged all of us in the conservative movement to be focused on substance and based in principle,” his press secretary said in a statement. “The dishonest media refuses to report the facts—Donald Trump and some congressional endorsers are ‘listless vessels.’ Why? Because Trump and DC insiders feel he is entitled to your vote.”
After more than a day without an apology arriving, Trump the campaign issued their demand again on Sunday while suggesting DeSantis would need permission from a Political Action Committee to reply.
“Instead of issuing an immediate apology, Team DeSantis has spent the last 24 hours doubling down on his insult to Trump supporters. Ron DeSantis should stop hiding behind spokespeople and address this himself. Every hour that passes further underscores the contempt DeSantis has for the voters who made him Governor. Perhaps he is waiting for another memo from Never Back Down to tell him what to do,” a Trump spokesperson said.
