Tammy Kondra has very strong views about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his possible run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
“DeSantis will never win. DeSantis is a loser,” the 56-year-old self-described “stay-at-home goddess” from Fredericksburg said during a rally for former President Donald Trump here on Saturday. “That’s the deep state.”
Like most voters here, many of whom drove long distances to stand for several hours in the hot sun on the tarmac of a regional airport, Kondra is committed to seeing Trump back in the White House.
But his feelings about DeSantis are hardly universal among Trump supporters, which may help explain why Trump often reserves his most personal criticism of the Florida governor for more private settings.
From a podium at one end of the tarmac, Trump described a sense of betrayal at DeSantis, his onetime retainer, considering a bid for the nomination. He criticized DeSantis for blaming Medicare and Social Security for Florida’s high COVID-19 death rate and embellishing his own effectiveness as governor.
Trump said, “Long before this guy was governor, Florida was tremendously successful for many years.” “Florida has been successful for decades.”
But criticism of DeSantis’ record proved pale in comparison to the personal attacks Trump delivered, as he spoke to a handful of reporters on his jet after the rally. “He has no personality,” Trump said, musing that DeSantis might have been working in a cigar store if not for Trump’s endorsement of his campaign at a critical moment in 2018.
The calibration reflects a political challenge that became clear in interviews with more than a dozen rally participants: Many of his own supporters see DeSantis as the next big hope for the GOP — even if they believe a run against Trump The campaign is weird.
“DeSantis in the future? 100%,” said home-loan originator Mike McKeon of Grand Prairie. “I’ll vote for him if he wins the nomination, but he’s not going to win the nomination. Timing is everything, and DeSantis’ time will be here in five years.”
Ron Kearney, who lives about 100 miles west of Waco, said he is with Trump now but will give DeSantis a look.
Kearney said, “There’s always wiggle room. I could absolutely change my mind.” “I might be open to DeSantis. I like what he’s doing out there.”
Others said that DeSantis could permanently damage himself by running against Trump.
Michel Bordelon, who traveled an hour to the rally, said, “It will be the biggest mistake of his career.” “If he runs now he will surely be committing political suicide.”
The range of views on DeSantis from Trump’s most ardent supporters – from the current GOAT to the future GOAT – suggest there is still room for the two men to defy each other at this early stage in the contest.
Without entering the race, DeSantis has already positioned himself as the most serious threat to Trump in national and state-by-state polling. And yet the former president, who won the nomination in 2016 and 2020, has consistently ranked first in national polls of a head-to-heat matchup, and one that included other contenders.
The prospect of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg or other prosecutors charging Trump at any time doesn’t faze his supporters at all. Many said it made no difference to Trump’s viability or his assessment of DeSantis as a potential candidate.
He universally dismissed the legal challenges facing Trump – possible indictments in Manhattan, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. – with “B” words such as “bogus” and “baloney”. From the stage, Trump used a different one – “bull —-” to describe the investigation.
Tammy Kondra’s husband, Vince, said he would stay with Trump even if the former president is indicted, convicted and jailed.
Vince Condra, 59, said, “I would vote him out of jail.”