Many see Ron DeSantis as a possible opponent to Donald Trump in a 2024 Republican primary. On a new episode of our Politics and More podcast, Dexter Filkins considers his rise. Listen here.
, in a conversation that has been edited for length and clarity. “He sounds like Trump, except that he speaks in complete sentences. . . . He’s very good at staking out a position and pounding the table and saying, I’m not giving in to the liberals in the Northeast.” Yet, despite having been anointed by Donald Trump in his primary election, DeSantis has refused to “kiss the ring,” and many see DeSantis as a possible opponent to Trump in a 2024 Republican primary.
It’s hard to tell how much of Ron DeSantis is ideological and how much is opportunism. He sounds like Trump, except that he speaks in complete sentences. He’s very, very articulate and very, very quick, but he’s competing for the same constituencies. He’s very, very angry at the élites, even though he went to Harvard and Yale. He’s very angry at Washington. He’s very angry at the politicians.