Former Republican Rep. David Jolly of Florida claimed on Monday that Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott’s presidential campaign launch showed the “fundamental weakness” of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida’s expected candidacy.
“The more candidates that get in, the stronger the hold the Donald Trump has,” Jolly told MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell. “But I think Robert’s point is important, we are seeing more candidates come in because they are seeing the fundamental weakness of Ron DeSantis.” Scott announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination on Monday, and has launched a $6 million ad campaign focusing on “individual responsibility” that drew praise from Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
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“My theory is that Ron DeSantis shot to 20 points over the last year because there are enough Republicans that want to get past Donald Trump,” Jolly said.
DeSantis won the 2022 gubernatorial election in a landslide, defeating former Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist, who served as Florida’s governor from 2007-2011 as a Republican, by over 19%, while Republicans underperformed expectations of a “red wave” nationally.
“What he showed is he can’t get over that 20% and take voters today who are with Donald Trump and bring him into his camp, so Tim Scott, Glenn Youngkin, Chris Christie are saying ‘hey, maybe I can do that,’” Jolly continued. “All that benefits Donald Trump. But baked into their strategy is the notion that perhaps Donald Trump is the one that looms Donald Trump. Is it through legal indictment or is it through another reason.”
“So, they will take him on on electability and say they don’t think he can win, come with me, I’m the conservative that can,” Jolly continued.
Trump currently leads DeSantis 56.3% to 19.4% in the RealClearPolitics polling average, with former Vice President Mike Pence drawing 5.6%, former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley drawing 4.3%, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy receiving 3.6% and Scott receiving 1.8%.
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