Top Strategist Declares DeSantis Career Over
Democratic strategist James Carville declared on Thursday that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s political career is over.
DeSantis sought the Republican nomination in 2024 but suspended his campaign in January, subsequently endorsing former President Donald Trump.
Speaking on his “Politics War Room” podcast, Carville stated that DeSantis would struggle to regain the support of “the Trump people” and suggested that the governor might not have “a place to go” politically.
‘He Is Toast’: James Carville Declares Ron DeSantis’ ‘Political Career’ Is ‘Over’https://t.co/WEn7lgCD57
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 29, 2024
“DeSantis is done, all right? He is toast. He can’t go back to the Trump people,” Carville said. “The Moms for Liberty are getting slaughtered. Big flash point, people don’t like book burners, okay? They went all into that. I’m very reluctant to declare anyone’s political career over, but DeSantis, you may be done, dude. You’re just done. I don’t know if you’ve got a place to go.”
“Who cares what James Carville thinks,” Desantis’ communications director Bryan Griffin told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump gave DeSantis the nickname “Ron DeSanctimonious” when they were rivals. The former president criticized DeSantis for running against him despite having endorsed him for Florida governor.
In a January 2024 CNN town hall, DeSantis accused Trump of not being “pro-life” after Trump had labeled a Florida law that restricts abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy as “too harsh” in May 2023.
Bill Maher and James Carville debate Dave Rubin on the viability of Ron DeSantis' campaign vs Trump
"So he's going to make up 41 points?"
James Carville: "George Santos is having a better year than Ron DeSantis. DeSantis is throwing spaghetti on the goddamn wall. He's going on… pic.twitter.com/7uFzOAJyAf— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) December 2, 2023
Eleven out of the 23 school board candidates recently endorsed by DeSantis lost their local elections. The conservative group Moms for Liberty endorsed 14 candidates across various counties in Florida, resulting in three wins, six losses, and five advancing to November runoffs, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The outcome of the 2024 elections contrasts with the 2022 results, where DeSantis endorsed 30 candidates, and only five were defeated.
In May, Carville praised Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, particularly for how it outmaneuvered DeSantis.
“What they did in the primaries was really remarkable,” Carville said. “We tend to write that off. He was an incumbent polarizing figure, you would say, ‘well he’s going to get what he starts out with,’ but actually he ended up with a lot. What they did to Ron DeSantis, what Susie Wiles did to Ron DeSantis, has to be one of the great cutting jobs I’ve ever seen in politics.”
