The Miami Herald on Sunday didn’t hold back as it bid a not-so-fond farewell to Ron DeSantis’ 2024 presidential hopes after he dropped out of the race and endorsed Donald Trump.
The newspaper’s editorial board wrote that DeSantis was supposed to be the candidate that “saved” the Republican party from the former president.
“It’s not just that he was steamrolled by Donald Trump,” the newspaper wrote. “DeSantis never appeared to want to save the GOP. He was more interested in making it a more ravenous, angrier and intolerant party. That worked for Trump, but didn’t work for the governor with all the charisma of burned toast.”
But while DeSantis’ campaign may be over, the damage he has done to Florida remains:
“Without his political ambitions, there likely wouldn’t be ‘Don’t say gay,’ woke wars and the waste of state resources to fight meaningless battles against drag queen bars. These were efforts to appeal to Trump’s base but his supporters refused to leave the former president, especially after he was indicted.”
The newspaper said DeSantis could’ve made a play for a “more reasonable” form of conservatism to appeal to a broader range of Americans.
“Instead, he banked on exploiting divisions in our country. As he bows out, DeSantis leaves the Republican Party exactly as he found it, under Trump’s dominance,” the newspaper said.