‘Trump 2.0’: How Ron DeSantis shot to fame and rubbed Donald Trump the wrong way

Ironically, most perturbed by DeSantis’ growing popularity is former US president Donald Trump. The two leaders have been locking horns for many months now, taking public shots at one another on multiple occasions. Following DeSantis’ big win in Florida, Trump warned to expose damaging information about him if he were to challenge him for the Republican presidential nomination.

Who is Ron DeSantis?

The 44-year-old was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2012. He was elected governor six years later in 2018.

DeSantis describes himself as a “native Floridian with blue-collar roots”. He graduated with honours from Yale University, where he was captain of the varsity baseball team. He then went to Harvard Law School. During his stint at Harvard, he joined the US Navy’s legal arm as a JAG officer. He was honourably discharged from service in 2010.

DeSantis then became a federal prosecutor, before entering the race for a seat in Florida’s Sixth Congressional District in 2012. In the early days of his political career, DeSantis’ campaign was largely centred around issues like ‘small government’ and reduced taxes. He was also a vocal opponent of former president Barack Obama’s policies.

In 2018, when he announced he was running for governor, he was backed by several prominent Republican leaders, including then-president Donald Trump. In fact, Trump’s influence on his campaign was apparent — for instance, in one of his campaign ads, he tells his children to “build the wall” while playing with blocks, and shows them how to read with a ‘Make America Great’ sign.

Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis waves from stage with his wife Casey and children during his 2022 U.S. midterm elections night party in Tampa, Florida, U.S., November 8, 2022. (Reuters Photo: Marco Bello)

What’s behind Ron DeSantis’ popularity?

Four years ago, DeSantis first won office by less than half a percentage point. Since then, his popularity has only grown. His policies have made him a favourite among hard-right conservatives.

It was during the Covid-19 pandemic that he really got people talking. In April 2020, he ordered a complete lockdown, set up several hundred test centres, and pushed for face masks in public. But within a month, despite cases surging across the country, he started lifting restrictions and reopening schools. He also started to resist mask mandates and vaccination requirements. He accused President Joe Biden of establishing a “biomedical security state”.

His other focus was cultural war issues. In March, he signed a bill, informally dubbed ‘Don’t Say Gay’, which banned conversations about sexual orientation or gender identity in Florida’s primary schools. A month later, after the US Supreme Court removed the constitutional right to abortion, he approved a bill that bans elective abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy — a move that was widely criticised by his opponents for being barbaric and callous.

Most recently, he was accused of “weaponising” migrants when he arranged for a group of asylum seekers, most of whom were from Venezuela, to be flown from Texas to the wealthy island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. The migrants filed a lawsuit against DeSantis and other state officials alleging they had engaged in a “fraudulent and discriminatory scheme”.

Surprisingly, despite the Martha’s Vineyard debacle, the Republican incumbent managed to win the Latino vote in Florida, according to an exit poll conducted by CBS News. Nearly 60 per cent of Latinos voted for him — posting a massive switch in Hispanic support towards Florida Republicans over the last few years.

Ron DeSantis vs Donald Trump: Why is there tension?

DeSantis is widely considered a popular choice for the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in the 2024 polls. His growing success is being seen as a threat to Trump — who is expected to announce his presidential bid any day now. Trump has said he’ll make “a big announcement” on November 15.

At a rally in Florida earlier this month, the former US president coined a new nickname for Florida’s governor: “Ron DeSanctimonious”.

DeSantis’ landslide victory in Florida also comes at a time when several Trump-endorsed candidates failed to win during the midterms.

But while DeSantis’ popularity can’t be overlooked, Trump still commands support from most sections of the GOP. As of November 4, Trump had a lead of over 20 points over DeSantis in two different polls, according to opinion polls analytics firm Five Thirty Eight.