“Covid is over, baby!” So proclaim a bare-chested man, wearing face paint like the Joker, Batman’s nemesis, while he stands on top of a car and waves the American national flag.
That was the scene last weekend in Miami, Florida, a state that acted quickly to lift blockades, reopen schools, file masquerade mandates and become, in the words of its governor, Ron DeSantis, an “oasis of freedom” during the coronavirus pandemic.
This approach discouraged health experts, but it enchanted Republicans and cemented DeSantis’ reputation as perhaps the most prominent guardian of Donald Trump’s legacy as a group of party figures jostling each other to become his political heir. Last month, the governor proposed a series of new electoral laws that would make it more difficult to vote. He loves to fight with the media and is now claiming victory over his pandemic critics.
“Floridians have been breaking the rules since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Monika McDermott, professor of political science at Fordham University in New York. That said, they seem to be quite happy with DeSantis’ overall performance and he certainly thinks he is Donald Trump’s apparent heir right now. He is very proud of himself and is proclaiming himself to be the Republican Party’s next big prodigy. “
While Trump and Joe Biden monopolized the spotlight, the coronavirus did much to shape the fate of state governors across America. Democrats Andrew Cuomo of New York and Gavin Newsom of California went from heroes to zeros after a series of mistakes. DeSantis – at 42, the country’s youngest governor – and Republican colleague Kristi Noem of South Dakota have worked hard to create a perception of success, despite their uncomfortable relationship with science.
Florida hardly escaped unscathed: its death toll of more than 32,000 is the fourth largest in the country, after California, New York and Texas. A year ago, DeSantis reluctantly gave in to the pressure, issuing a request to stay at home and demanding the closing of non-essential deals. But, like Trump, he was eager to restart the economy and acted faster than many states to reopen schools.
DeSantis faced widespread reproach even when Cuomo was publishing a book praising his own response to the pandemic. But now the situation has changed.
John Zogby, researcher and author, said: “Frankly, he was the village idiot at the start of it all and it was difficult to understand what he was doing in a state like Florida. He’s on a ridge now because it seems to be working. We don’t know what happens next, but as long as this crest continues, it is positioning itself as the non-Trump of the Trump base. ”
In a political play last week, DeSantis hosted a handpicked panel of health experts in the state capital in Tallahassee to publicly claim his opposition to the blockades and mandates. Among them was Scott Atlas, a radiologist who had no formal experience in infectious diseases when Trump hired him last summer as a coronavirus consultant.
DeSantis boasted: “The data could not be clearer that our state has fared much better than many others, especially those that have imposed severe restrictions on their residents.”
His supporters point out that, despite California’s more cautious approach, its Covid-19 case rate is similar to that of Florida, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy survey last month found DeSantis with a 53% approval rating.
Although the 2024 presidential election is a political eon away, it is rumored that the Ivy League lawyer, Iraq war veteran and former member of Congress, who mimics Trump’s face style, could become the torchbearer for the “Make America Great Again Movement”.
Bill Whalen, a researcher at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, said: “He benefits from the same model that Trump benefited from, which is very critical of the media. The media punished him day and night for dealing with the coronavirus against California, but then, when he can point out that he has better numbers than California, he can say ‘Ah ha!’ This is something that Trump voters love to hear when it is at the expense of the media.
“He’s starting to check the boxes that will be important to Trump’s voters in 2024. One of them is obviously the way you deal with the pandemic; he doesn’t pray at Dr. Fauci’s altar. “
Like Ronald Reagan and George W Bush before him, DeSantis would run for the Republican nomination with executive experience as governor of state and could present himself as an outsider from Washington.
Whalen added: “So that he could say, like Trump, ‘I am not part of the problem, I am part of the solution’. It is so fundamentally strange if you are Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz or even Josh Hawley or Ben Sasse – the legions of senators looking to run – to divorce Washington and Congress. “
DeSantis is also in a strong position because Florida, the third most populous state, has enormous electoral influence and appears to have shifted decisively to the right. Trump is now based on his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, while his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, settled in Miami.
Meanwhile, Florida’s two Republican senators, Rubio and Rick Scott, are seen as potential candidates for 2024. And Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz is one of Trump’s most combative champions and impersonators.
Roger Stone, a Florida-based political consultant forgiven by Trump on seven criminal charges in the Russian investigation, said: “Florida remains the last bastion and is definitely the center of action in terms of the conservative Republican policy of ‘America first’. We could have up to three candidates here.
“Or four: if the president runs, I think he clears the field. The appointment is his, if he wants. This is his party now. We will never be the Bushes country club party again. Now we are the party of the blue collar, we are the party of the working class. “
But for now, DeSantis appears to have the upper hand in what the Politico site dubbed the “if Trump-not-running” primary, as he noted that several candidates are already networking in Iowa, traditionally the first state to have a say in to say.
At last month’s Conservative Political Action (CPAC) Conference in Orlando, Florida, the governor was runner-up for Trump in an insignificant vote for the 2024 Republican nomination and the first in another that excluded the 45th president.
And on Monday, in a podcast interview with Lisa Boothe, Trump mentioned DeSantis first when listing the Republicans he believes have a bright future. “Ron DeSantis is doing a very good job in Florida,” said Trump, citing Senators Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul and Arkansas government candidate Sarah Sanders.
Trump also praised Noem, the governor of South Dakota who rivaled DeSantis in anti-stall bets, allowing the Sturgis biker rally to take place. She has traveled extensively to speak on state republican parties and to make appearances on Fox News. Mike Pence, the former vice president, and Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state, are also potential candidates for 2024. If Trump decides to play kingmaker, his endorsement could be decisive.
His 2018 endorsement played a crucial role in DeSantis’ unlikely victory in the Republican primaries for governor. Stone noted, “DeSantis’ rise on Fox Television as a Trump supporter was really what earned him the nomination for governor in the primaries. He has been very loyal to the president since he is president and his style of government is very similar.
“So, in that sense, I think that in terms of politics, it would be solid. I just wonder if he has Trump’s showmanship, that Matt Gaetz has, that Josh Hawley has, for example. We are still in the television age. Charisma is important and I think that to some extent the governor does not have the kind of connection with voters that the president has, just in terms of personal seriousness ”.
First, however, DeSantis is due to be re-elected governor of Florida next year. Your treatment of the pandemic will be a key issue. Critics argue that its vaccine distribution program favors wealthy donors and blame its laissez-faire approach for the chaos in Miami Beach last weekend, which saw street fighting, destroyed restaurants and more than 1,000 arrests made.
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former Democratic congressman from Florida who is among the leaders of a Ron Be Gone campaign, told NBC News: “Your arrogance and total detachment from the pain and suffering of our communities reveals a lot about someone who is in this position to promote their political ambitions, and it is obvious why they are already discussing 2024. ”