Washington Examiner commentary writer Tiana Lowe Doescher has given her take on Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) trailing former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race, saying he "has not done it yet" in becoming the "anyone but Trump" candidate.
Doescher's comments come as Trump is currently leading the Republican primary race for the 2024 presidential election, with other candidates, including DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, also running for the spot. Since announcing his presidential campaign in May, DeSantis has not taken away Trump's spotlight as many initially believed he would.
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"So the concern for DeSantis is that even though he’s making all this money, where is it going?" asked Doescher. "There hasn’t been that much movement from state to state, right. He's the second-place candidate in Iowa, also in South Carolina, which is a big deal because you have a senator from South Carolina, Tim Scott, and a former governor, Nikki Haley, but he has not cut into Trump’s lead like he needs to. There was a moment when he could’ve been the decisive 'anyone but Trump' candidate, but he has not done it yet."
Doescher went on to say that the economy has remained "the No. 1 story" and went on to describe how DeSantis won his first gubernatorial election in 2018 by focusing on the economy. She also described how voters have lost "16% of their purchasing power" since President Joe Biden took office and that the two presidential candidates who are "hammering on that" are Scott and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
The debates between Republican presidential candidates, which are scheduled to be held next month, were also discussed. Trump has indicated he will not attend the debate, to which Doescher was asked if such a move would be a mistake on his part.
"If he goes, there is a chance he can be annihilated, but we know Donald Trump is good at sucking all the air out of a room. He would probably have a fine debate performance," Doescher said. "But if he isn’t there, he runs the risk of someone shining and becoming the 'anyone but Trump' candidate."
DeSantis was asked on Sunday if the "doom and gloom" surrounding his campaign trailing Trump was affecting his presidential run, to which DeSantis responded with "Not at all."
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"I think the good thing about it is Republican primary voters are very smart," said DeSantis. "They know where these corporate outlets stand on the political spectrum, and so the extent that they become convinced that the media does not want me to be the nominee above all else, that will, in the long run, absolutely help me."
A poll conducted from July 8-11 showed 61% of voters believe Biden is not the strongest candidate Democrats could nominate, while 53% of voters believe Trump is not the strongest candidate Republicans could nominate in 2024. Among the most skeptical about the two front-runners, Trump 2020 voters were the most doubtful that Biden is the strongest candidate Democrats could nominate in 2024, 84%, while Biden 2020 voters were the most skeptical that Trump is the strongest candidate Republicans could nominate in 2024, 76%.