(Chuck Muth) – A couple days ago, I wrote critically about Ron DeSantis’ official campaign launch. I concluded that I wasn’t yet sure Donald Trump could win the presidential general election next year, but that I also wasn’t yet sure if Ron DeSantis could beat him in the GOP primary. I’ve changed my mind. It ain’t gonna be no walk in the park, but I can now see a path to victory in the primary for DeSantis. Here’s the straw that broke the camel’s back for me… At a campaign rally in Iowa back in 2016, Trump infamously declared that he “could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” And there was some truth to that. Trump’s loyalists are exceptionally passionate defenders, especially when it comes to the former president being attacked unmercifully and hatefully by the mainstream media and the left. But I repeat myself. And while Trump did a lot of great things for the country during his four years in office, he also pulled a lot of boners. But back then, loyalists bit their tongues rather than give fodder to the conservative movement’s enemies who were hellbent on his, and our, destruction. Think: Anthony Fauci. Trump’s refusal to get rid of Fauci during COVID probably cost him the 2020 election. Fauci was the King of the Swamp People. But instead of flushing this turd down the drain, he let him linger in the bowl, stinking up the place to high heaven. Just as badly, Trump’s efforts to “drain the swamp” consisted of replacing DC swamp creatures with his own swamp creatures, including family members and associates – such as California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ex-wife, Kimberly Gilfoyle – who had no street cred for either conservative politics or running the government. Remember when he appointed Omarosa Manigault Newman, an obnoxious former contestant on his Apprentice TV show, to a position in the White House because she “said nice things about him”? Meet the new swamp creatures; same as the old swamp creatures. Contrast that with what Ronald Reagan did upon ascending into the Oval Office. He drained the Heritage Foundation think-tank, and others, of solid conservatives to fill his administration. As the saying goes, personnel is policy. To be fair, there were also some stellar Trump appointments, starting with his choice of Mike Pence as vice president. Pence was a solid conservative soldier and there was no stronger defender of the president during the four turbulent years of his administration. But after that post-election policy disagreement – in which both sides had legitimate differences of opinion – Trump tossed him off the back of the boat, making sure he landed on the propellers so he’d be chewed up as bloody shark chum. With Trump, loyalty is a one-way street. You’re either with him 100% – all the time, every time – or you’re gonna get a nickname. Which brings me to Kayleigh McEnany. McEnany was one of Trump’s four press secretaries. She was thrown into the lion’s den just days after Trump locked down the country, under advice from Fauci, for “15 days to slow the spread” of COVID. Talk about a baptism by fire! McEnany was sharp-tongued, quick-witted, and always loaded for bear when dealing with rabid, jihadist reporters, especially the insufferable Jim Acosta. In one of the many memorable clashes with CNN’s leading jackass, the buffoon challenged McEnany with an accusation that Trump was trying to “silence fact-checking” by the media. McEnany didn’t miss a beat. And it was a thing of beauty. “If you’re going to get into the fact-checking business,” she volleyed back, “there’s no one that should be fact-checked more than the mainstream media that has been continually wrong about a number of things.” “To give you a list of some of the most egregious ones,” she continued, before rattling off one example after another of false media reports, especially by CNN, without having to fumble through pages and pages of talking points in her briefing book to come up with them. BOOM! “Kayleigh McEnany is a role model for conservative women,” Nevada’s own Courtney Holland wrote yesterday. “She’s a devout Christian, devoted mother & wife, Harvard law grad, author, prime time news host, a staunch defender of America 1st agenda, & one of the best press secretaries we’ve ever seen.” Can’t argue with that. So why do I bring this up? Well, Kayleigh is now a FOX News host. And in an interview on the “Outnumbered” show yesterday, she reported on polling results showing Trump’s lead over DeSantis in Iowa was 25 percent. Pretty good news, right? Not for The Donald. He had a cow and threw a hissy fit on his Twitter-Lite “Truth Social,” blistering her with his usual Bronx bluster… “Kayleigh ‘Milktoast’ McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers on FoxNews,” he fumed. “I am 34 points up on DeSanctimonious, not 25 up.” “The RINOS and Globalists can have her,” he seethed at his new McEnemy. “FoxNews should only use REAL Stars!!!” RINO is a pejorative acronym for “Republicans in Name Only.” I know a RINO when I see one – and Kayleigh ain’t it. And she ain’t “Milktoast” (it’s actually spelled “milquetoast,” by the way) either. She’s a hard-core conservative warrior with bigger cojones than most men – especially men who “identify” as women. Indeed, on May 1, 2019 – on the one-year anniversary of her double-mastectomy at the tender age of 30 – she wrote bravely about her agonizing and horrifying experience… “On the morning of May 1, 2018, I woke up knowing that the day I had anticipated for nine years had finally arrived. It was the day of my preventative double mastectomy – the day I would attack my BRCA 2 genetic mutation head-on and take my chances of breast cancer from 84 percent to virtually zero.” “Milktoast”? I don’t think so. Of course, the same die-hard Trumpers who would stick with him if he shot somebody in the middle of 5th Avenue rallied to his defense. For example, Laura “Looney Tune” Loomer, a self-professed “investigative journalist,” called Kayleigh a “disgusting Trump hater,” a “hussy” and a “backstabbing witch.” Yes, the hard-core are going to continue defending Trump even when his acts and words against conservatives are indefensible – like what he did yesterday to McEnany. But a growing number of Trump supporters are starting to suffer from a severe case of “Trump Fatigue.” And there’s no “Fauci Ouchie” vax to stop the spread. Worse for Trump, they’re no longer biting their tongues. Those tongues are wagging now. Enough for a major upset next year? Still a longshot at this point – whether it’s 25 or 34 percent. But I’ll suggest this… Over the next eight months, you’re going to see a lot more Trump supporters swing over to DeSantis than DeSantis supporters swing over to Trump. And if DeSantis’ support steadily grows, he could reach critical mass just in time for the early state primaries. Trump knows it. You can smell his fear and panic. That’s why he’s going scorched-earth on anybody and everybody who’s not 100% with him – all the time, every time. If Trump pulls a Hindenburg next year, history may well record yesterday as the day the Milktoast broke The Donald’s back. Indeed, if the GOP primary election was held today, after what Trump did to Kayleigh yesterday, I’d be casting my ballot for Ron DeSantis. And I wouldn’t be alone. P.S. The “unsubscribe” button is at the bottom for those who “can’t handle the truth.” FAMOUS LAST WORDS “The budget restrictions (in the debt ceiling deal) don’t extend as far into the future as many Republicans had sought, but the GOP can fix that by taking their case to the American people and winning elections.” – Las Vegas Review-Journal, 5/31/23 Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views, and founder of CampaignDoctor.com. You can sign up for his conservative, Nevada-focused e-newsletter at MuthsTruths.com. His views are his own.
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