Is it a shrewd attack on the former president or a sign of desperation that the DeSantis campaign knows the next debate is meaningless without Trump on stage?
Trump’s double-digit lead in every poll is reason enough for him to skip the messy debate stage in favor of campaigning in early states and bringing his message directly to the people.
The only ones interested in primetime debate stage publicity are the opponents nipping at his heels. The issue has come to a head where DeSantis is now formally goading Trump to make a debate appearance by, uh, questioning his manhood:
Ron DeSantis showed off his pair of … golf balls Thursday and questioned whether Donald Trump has “the balls” to join the third Republican presidential debate next week.
In a tongue-in-cheek merch drop, the DeSantis campaign began selling golf balls with the slogan, “Ron DeSantis has a pair — he shows up” in a direct taunt at the GOP frontrunner.
The Sunshine State governor also brushed aside recent hubbub about his boots and promised to wear one on his head if the former president “can summon the balls to show up to the debate.”
This sounds like a clear admission that a debate without Trump is a meaningless gesture for the RNC. The first two events, both hosted by Fox, were badly panned by critics. The questions were lame, the moderators lacked self-control, and the candidates paid the price.
The next debate is on NBC News, a far-left bastion of Democratic Party talking points filled with anchors and journalists who used to be hill staffers for Democratic members of Congress. Why would the RNC reward places like NBC, a network that long-perpetuated the fake Russia collusion hoax narrative ad nauseam during the Trump presidency, with a debate?
Trump’s campaign responded to the criticism in kind, of course:
“Rob DeSanctimonious has been completely emasculated for wearing high-heeled man-booties and is now a political eunuch. He’s the last person who should be talking about balls,” Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump told The Post in response.
The “high-heeled man-booties,” as Trump calls them, is a reference to boot-gate. Several videos are floating around questioning whether Ron DeSantis is wearing some kind of lifts inside his frequently-worn boots:
Florida man attempts to be the bigger person — literally. Here’s why some social media users are claiming to notice something… odd about Ron DeSantis’ boots. pic.twitter.com/wn0JDPCvEU
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) November 1, 2023
There is no beating Trump at this game. It’s a sign of a campaign desperate for some kind of attention. Calling out Trump for lacking “the balls” to stand on a debate stage was sure to elicit a response, but not much in the way of broadening the governor’s appeal to voters.
It’s a fair question though as to whether Trump should skip the debates or not. There’s no precedent for the position we’re in with a former president running for a second non-consecutive term. Trump feels he was slighted, and so do millions of his supporters. He was the nominee in 2016 and 2020 and feels he should be given another shot in 2024.
DeSantis, along with Nikki Haley, basically owe their recent careers to riding Trump’s coattails which is why it was surprising to see them both come out to challenge him for the nomination.
The question now is whether DeSantis can survive a potential primary loss against Trump and live to run again in the future. Things like the “high-heeled man-booties” saga will stick with him for a while.
