 Believe it or not, Donald Trump is starting to lose his vice grip on the Republican Party. And there's a couple of reasons as to why I think this is the case. First, is that I think that the January 6th public hearings is more and more seen as a liability. Even if you're a GOP voter and you don't necessarily agree with the content and you still believe that Trump won the election, either way, you've got to make a strategic calculation and determine whether or not his electability has been diminished because these public hearings are hurting him. Another thing that is changing this dynamic in the Republican Party is that there's a new fascist that GOP voters are drawn to, and that individual is obviously Ron DeSantis, and this is reflected in polling as well. For example, DeSantis in Florida now has a 20-point lead over Donald Trump. Now, yes, DeSantis does have the home state advantage here, but in 2016, Trump managed to beat Rubio by nearly 19 points despite that being Rubio's home state. Now, sure, Rubio is different than DeSantis, but either way, this is still a really huge development. Now, in Michigan, DeSantis is within striking distance of Donald Trump, now polling within the margin of error in this really crucial battleground state. Now, by far and away at this point in time, Donald Trump still is the GOP favorite in 2024, but that is beginning to change. Now, this is anecdotal evidence, but just the GOP normies that I know in my personal life, they're starting to talk about how more and more they like Ron DeSantis. They like that he is less divisive than Donald Trump. He's a more normal Republican, even if ideologically they're the same, even if the threat that they pose to democracy is about the same give or take, they are more and more drawn to Ron DeSantis. And even the GOP base, who is glued to Fox News, is changing their tune as well. So Fox News, at least their digital video thing, their Netflix, whatever that is, they ran a segment where they spoke to GOP voters in Maricopa County, Arizona. And almost all of them, you know, aside from a few exceptions, said they prefer DeSantis to Trump. Take a look. Yes. I don't want them to. I like what he stands for. I like what he does, but he upset too many people and he upset them really bad. So I don't think he's good for the party. He needs to get back in that he already had gained that respect from all the world leaders and finish what he, you know, started. It's too bad that he did what he did do and was fought the whole way along on darn near everything that he did. But that's what happened. So I like to see him not run. If he did, I would vote for him, but I would not recommend he runs. I voted for Trump both times and I love him. I think he was a good candidate, but I think his time has passed. I couldn't care less about President Trump personally. I prefer somebody different, but if he is the nominee, I'll probably vote for him. You know what? I voted for him for my my very first time I voted for him. I don't think it'll be best for our country for him to run for reelection. You know, I'm thankful for everything that he's done, but I think that our Republican Party needs to be united. At this point, he's a little too polarizing. And I think that there are candidates out there, Republican candidates obviously, that maybe be able to pull in people that he would lose to be able to change this. I would like to see, you know, Governor DeSantis or someone like that some some new blood in the race. DeSantis, president, if he wants to, then he could pick up Donald as a vice president. We're from Florida. DeSantis is, we're big fans of DeSantis on this one. He seems to be a much more common sense and able to communicate better to both sides, to get those people back, the switch. He's done a good job and everything he's tried to do, despite all, you know, it's not all just what he says. It doesn't just happen like that. I believe he's done a good job with a lot of things. And that's just my personal belief. I really like DeSantis. I really like DeSantis because I think he can unify the party and I think he's a fighter and a leader. And we need both. He's like a no-nonsense kind of guy, kind of like Trump is. And I really appreciate that. I don't want someone, I don't need a politician to get up there and smile and tell me a couple of lies. I'd like to someone that speaks the truth and I really feel like DeSantis would be a good option. 100% DeSantis. There's no question about it. I'm a DeSantis fan as well. Donald Trump had a great run. I thought he was a great president while he was president. After the fact, I think we've seen a lot of divisiveness that's come from things. And again, I wouldn't vote for him in a primary, but the policy that he was able to do, I would probably vote for him in an election, but not a primary. So look, it's not a foregone conclusion yet, but I think that more and more we're seeing that the GOP's base has chosen a new sweaty authoritarian fascist to migrate to. They found a new demagogue and that individual is Ron DeSantis. Now, what we saw ultimately is that these are loyal Republican voters. They're vote red until they're dead, but during the GOP primary, they are going to make their voice heard and they're going to opt for Ron DeSantis. But I mean, if Trump wants the primary, they'll go for Donald Trump begrudgingly, but more and more, they're turned off by Donald Trump, maybe not necessarily for personal reasons, but because of the effect that he has on the electorate. So here's some reasons that they vocalized here. Trump has upset too many people. I mean, sure, he upset more people, but that's kind of always been consistent with Trump. That was part of the reason why they liked him in the first place. I'd argue, but still he's upset too many people. He wouldn't be able to unite the Republican Party. And that same person who said that DeSantis could unite the Republican Party. I tend to agree with that person. He's a little too polarizing. Trump's divisive. I mean, it feels weird to hear them say this in 2022. Yes, we've seen the insurrection. Yes, we've seen the January 6 public hearings, but you're saying this now when Donald Trump has always been this way, but perhaps there was a breaking point. Maybe January 6 was the straw that broke the camel's back. I've talked to a Republican who said that he was full all aboard the MAGA train until January 6. Then he was a little bit introspective and thought, this is where I'm going to draw the line. And that person, at least last time I spoke to them, has kind of migrated towards the left. But either way, maybe January 6 changed some people's minds. You're going to have a percentage of the GOP base that will never abandon Donald Trump. But more and more, the people who were susceptible to abandoning Trump are jumping off of that train. And it's because they have somebody who's more similar to Trump. But all of the weaknesses that Trump has, you know, that's corrected with Ron DeSantis. Ron DeSantis is more charismatic than Donald Trump, even if Trump is able to entertain people. You know, I think that in terms of ideology, DeSantis can communicate a more cohesive vision of fascism for the GOP base. And that's why they like him. Reasons why they like DeSantis additionally include that he has more crossover appeal, which I think is actually true. You know, we saw with him copying the dictator of hungry Victor Orban with his don't say gay law. You know, he'll speak out of both sides of his mouth. On one hand, he'll sign legislation that demonizes gay people. But on another hand, he'll say, oh, well, we're going to protect gay people. There are enough people, enough normie voters in this country that will fall for that. That will be duped by that and not know there's normie Democrats in the state of Florida that sided with Ron DeSantis over the don't say gay law because he was able to successfully market that as just, oh, this is about parental rights and education. Now, ignore the fact that when it comes to education, this is the same governor who's banning math books citing critical race theory. But the way that he's able to control the narrative, I think that GOP voters see value in that. And regardless, if you love or hate Ron DeSantis, he is effective at doing that, unfortunately. Also, he can unify the party that person said as I stated earlier. And I think that that's actually accurate. You'll see the anti Trump wing of the party as small as it may be the Liz Cheney's the Adam Kinzinger's of the world come together with the MAGA chuds like Marjorie Green and support Ron DeSantis. So, you know, when it comes to me, I genuinely don't know who is more destructive between Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump. Trump certainly is a clear and present danger to democracy. And he would be bold enough to actually just stay in power in perpetuity if he's able to do that after January 6. Like once he takes back power, he's not going to give that up. So that's certainly a problem. But Ron DeSantis is much, much more savvy. He doesn't put his foot in his mouth every five minutes. He's more covert in implementing his authoritarianism. Like when he constructs a new fascist institution in Florida, such as election police to monitor election integrity, he is able to sell that in a way to voters that comes their nerves and they don't think, oh, well, this seems a little bit suspicious. She just told us that we had a really safe election and there was no fraud in the state of Florida. So, you know, you're creating this election police unit that you control and seems sus, but I guess you explained it well. Like he's able to have that plausible deniability that Trump just doesn't have, but make no mistake about it. When it comes to policy, I think that Ron DeSantis could do more damage. But just when it comes to the danger that he poses to democracy, you can argue honestly that Ron DeSantis is a greater threat to democracy because he's able to sell authoritarianism to voters just more effectively than Donald Trump. So I don't know. I don't know when it comes to who is more destructive for the country between DeSantis and Trump. I think they're both terrible. Either way, you know, you can't expect GOP voters to opt for someone who's normal. They're going to choose someone who is fascistic, who's authoritarian, and the alternative to the fascists in the Republican Party is some sort of a psychopathic warmonger like Liz Cheney. So either way, they're going to pick someone who is horrible. What matters for me is that the Democratic Party get their shit together and come up with somebody who could counter Ron DeSantis or Donald Trump. But if nothing changes and it's DeSantis versus Biden, I think it's a foregone conclusion that DeSantis would win, assuming he's able to maintain this momentum and become the leader of the Republican Party. But when it comes to Donald Trump, I still think that he could beat Joe Biden, but is Trump weaker against Joe Biden? Yes. I think that's undeniable at this point. So, you know, either way, it's interesting to see this dynamic change. But really, Ron DeSantis is the same shitty politician just in a new package. And that's kind of what GOP voters want right now. So, you know, this is really interesting. One element of the story that I enjoy is just knowing how angered and triggered Donald Trump is that DeSantis is cucking him. There was a story and I think that'd be fair that talked about how Trump was so outraged by Ron DeSantis growing in popularity that he considered announcing his 2024 presidential run in front of DeSantis's house. So, talk about petty. That goes to show you how threatened Trump is by Ron DeSantis. So, either way, this is an interesting thing to watch when it comes to the horse race element of this, but just in terms of the effect it'll have on democracy. Either one of these two lunatics is going to be a disaster for democracy, but that's the state of American politics. So, we'll have to wait and see what happens. I don't think that Ron DeSantis is a foregone conclusion yet, but I do believe that the wind is blowing in that direction and anyone who denies his momentum within the GOP at this point is in denial. Trump is losing ground and this is really the first instance where I think that that is tangible. You could palpably feel the way that Trump is losing his grip on the Republican Party. And even if I hate DeSantis, I still love to see Trump lose his power within the GOP.