Trump Allies Try to Create Another "Basket of Deplorables" Moment with DeSantis

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“A hit dog will holler.”

This phrase gets tossed around quite a bit in politics, but one of the most perfect examples emerged this weekend as Trump allies and the media pounced on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Word on the street is Ron DeSantis attacked Trump voters. Fox News called his statements “degrading.” CNN claimed DeSantis called Trump supporters “listless vessels,” and then proceeded to play a clip where they cut out a portion of the governor’s quote. Ken Cuccinelli, founder of pro-DeSantis PAC Never Back Down, called reporter Kasie Hunt out—straight to her face—for deceptive editing.

So, what did DeSantis actually say?

“So, there will be people who are huge Trump supporters, like in Congress, who have incredibly liberal left-wing records that is really just atrocious, and yet they’re viewed by some of these folks as like, really, really good. Then you have other people, you know, like a Congressman Chip Roy, who has endorsed me, Congressman Thomas Massie. These guys have records of principle fighting the swamp that are second to none. And yet, they will be attacked by some of these people and called RINOs. So, it’s just been totally detached from any substance. And ultimately, a movement can’t be about the personality of one individual. The movement has got to be about what are you trying to achieve on behalf of the American people. And that’s got to be based in principle. Because if you’re not rooted in principle, if all we are is listless vessels that are just supposed to follow whatever happens to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that’s not going to be a durable movement.”

Does anyone disagree with DeSantis’s comments? It is true that Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY-21), who replaced former Rep. Liz Cheney for Republican Conference Chairman, is more liberal than her Republican counterparts. But Stefanik vocally supports Trump, so she was backed for leadership, despite the fact Stefanik only voted in line with Trump 77.7% of the time. Even Cheney voted in line with Trump 92.9% of the time.

DeSantis made a point that a personality can’t be behind the conservative movement; it has to be grounded in some sort of principle. Whether you’re a Republican cannot be based on your loyalty to an individual; it has to be based on believing in and advancing a particular set of ideals.

So, does anyone truly disagree with Ron DeSantis? If you do, then you might be a “listless vessel” who only cares about obedience to Trump. If that doesn’t describe you, why are you upset?

Maybe Trump will be back in the White House in 2025. From the day he takes the oath, Trump will be a lame duck. The party has to go on and so does the movement. Many of these people who despise DeSantis now wouldn’t have minded if he was the nominee in 2028, or even if he were Trump’s VP. That time has passed, but many of Trump’s grievances about DeSantis revolve around his lack of loyalty to him, rather than the party or values they’re supposed to represent. It doesn’t make sense that Trump supporters love the fact he isn’t beholden to anyone, yet demand everyone else be beholden to him. “It’s my turn” was Hillary Clinton’s appeal in 2016. Trump’s should be “I’m still the best, and I’ll prove it.”

Instead, Trump is skipping debates and demanding his competitors drop out of the primary about before a single vote is cast.

Are there certain Trump influencers who perfectly fit Ron’s description of “listless vessels?” Yes, and they prove his point every day. But it’s unfortunate that they’re dragging the entirety of the Trump voting base into these comments, attempting to make it a “basket of deplorables” moment.

Primaries can get messy. We can follow and listen to people we disagree with. We can follow people who are blatantly wrong on a subject, but there are people purposely mischaracterizing DeSantis’ comments. If you’ve been deceived, I suggest you rethink who you allow to influence you. If you hated when people lied about Trump’s record and what he said, intellectual honesty demands you apply the same standard to others.