On Monday, political expert Dick Morris appeared on Newsmax and warned Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that his presidential campaign is too far “right” and could end up hurting the GOP in 2024.
He said on “Rob Schmitt Tonight,” that DeSantis has the potential to do well in the early primaries, but then could hit trouble later in the election due to his strong views on certain issues.
“I don’t think he has a chance to win, but he certainly has a chance to screw it up for [former President Donald] Trump and whoever the Republicans nominate,” Morris explained, “because his strategy is to take strong right-wing positions on everything from abortion to gun control and other stuff.”
“Trump wants to do more moderate positions, and if DeSantis forces him to move to the right, … DeSantis could beat him in some of the early primaries, … but then he couldn’t win in November,” he said.
Morris went on to give past examples of the same dynamic occurring in past Republican primaries, specifically the bids of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.
Huckabee, Santorum, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas “won the Iowa caucuses and then couldn’t go on and win the general election,” Morris stated. “And that’s because to win Iowa, you have to take really strong right-wing positions that make it very hard to appeal to centrist voters.”
The political expert’s comments arrive just two days before the Florida Republican is expected to announce in Miami his official entry into the 2024 Republican presidential primaries, The Wall Street Journal reported.
DeSantis currently trails Trump by nearly 33 percentage points, 53.5% to 20.8%, in a FiveThirtyEight average of primary polls conducted thus far.
I think Governor DeSantis definitely has the potential to come in and swoop the election, surprising us all.
