There were more than a few notable moments from former President Donald Trump’s interview earlier this week with Bret Baier. He may have admitted to serious crimes, he didn’t have an answer when asked about his staffing decisions as president, and he claimed he won the 2020 election. One less-discussed moment, though, also deserves our attention.
While discussing the 2024 race, Baier pointed out that Trump’s PAC, MAGA Inc., has spent more money attacking Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) than it did supporting all GOP candidates combined in the midterm elections.
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By May 21, which was before DeSantis even entered the race, MAGA Inc. had spent $15.3 million on anti-DeSantis ads, topping the $15 million it spent during the entire 2022 cycle. Interestingly, it spent only $1,500 on ads that actually were pro-Trump.
That Trump has spent more money attacking DeSantis than helping GOP candidates is telling: It shows Trump cares more about his own ego than anything else.
This is not to say it is illegitimate for Trump to attack DeSantis. It certainly is legitimate. After all, they are in a battle for the Republican nomination to become president of the United States. The stakes are quite high. Of course, there will be political attacks back and forth. This is particularly true when we consider the fact that Trump and DeSantis are in first and second place in the polls right now.
But we also should have a sense of proportion. On the whole, Trump and the other Republican candidates have a somewhat similar vision for the direction the country should go, at least on policy, and even if it is only insofar as they all oppose the agenda of the Left. So, the idea he would put greater time and resources into pulling down those he largely agrees with than those who would give control of the Senate to the Democrats is not justified. And the campaign is only just getting started. There has not even been a debate yet. By the end of the primary process, the amount Trump will have spent attacking DeSantis will likely be at least double what he spent supporting GOP candidates in 2022.
The only way to explain these decisions is by recognizing the true motivating factor for Trump in almost everything he does: ego. Even the centerpieces of his campaign really have nothing to do with policy. Rather, they are complaints that he got a raw deal in the 2020 election and lamentations that people are “unfairly” going after him for… breaking the law.
Is this demanding a unique type of restraint from Trump? I don’t think so. In the 2020 Democratic primary race, there were certainly brutal attacks between candidates. But they were thought out, calculated, and ultimately put to the side once it was clear now-President Joe Biden won the nomination. Additionally, none of Biden's opponents, certainly none at the top, made their campaigns about going after another contender.
In Trump’s case, though, it is doubtful he would support the Republican nominee if he is not it, thus dooming the GOP to another lost election. We all know what happened in the Georgia Senate runoffs in 2021, when Trump torpedoed the hopes of both Republican candidates.
It is virtuous for politicians to stand on principles that transcend party, but Trump’s opposition will have nothing to do with principles — just personal grievances that serve nothing but his own self-importance.
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Jack Elbaum is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.