Some people seem to think so with his recent seemingly outrageous attack on Florida’s populist Governor Ron DeSantis, but this isn’t the first person he has apparently turned against. Recently, Candace Owens said he had taken aim at her; Owens has been one of Trump’s biggest supporters among non-politicians. So what is going on here? To understand why, we need to look back to the beginning of his campaign.
Trump launched his first Presidential campaign on June 16, 2015, two days after his sixty-ninth birthday. There had been speculation of him running for President way back in the 1980s but he had never held political office before. He was treated from the beginning as a joke candidate, but after slaughtering a packed field to win the nomination, the laughter was replaced by defamation, hysteria, and at times outright criminal intrigue.
We know now, those of us who have bothered to read the documents, that Hillary Clinton and her gang funded the Russian collusion hoax and that people in the FBI, the mainstream media, and the highest levels of Government ran with this piece of garbage.
We have come to expect this sort of thing from the Democrats, whose party is now far removed from the interests of ordinary people, but it was fellow Republicans who leaked the notorious Access Hollywood tape. Trump brushed this off with a superficial apology and trashed the gaggle of demented women who would crawl out of the woodwork accusing him of everything from reckless eyeballing to rape. One of these later accusers would accuse him of raping her in a New York store on an unspecified date in the 1990s. It soon transpired that this ludicrous scenario was based on a 2012 episode from a popular crime series.
Other alleged crimes were taken more seriously, and where there was no alleged crime, certifiable lunatics like Letitia James went investigating the man looking for one.
The Trump White House leaked live a sieve. The Deep State targeted not only Trump but his family and everyone around him. One of those was his lawyer Michael Cohen, who ended up facing prosecution for unrelated crimes. Sensing more trouble unless he played ball, Cohen turned on Trump, but due to his conviction for perjury he now has little credibility. Then there was Stormy Daniels who claimed to have had a one-off sexual encounter with Trump and was paid off for it. Whether or not she did, Trump was accused of a campaign finance violation instead of being a victim of extortion or blackmail. But there was perfidy closer to home, his niece Mary – who is as mad as a box of frogs – has spoken out against him, then there was Omarosa. Does anyone now remember Omarosa?
In short, Trump has been victimised, traduced and betrayed left, right and centre. Is it any wonder he has become paranoid? Clearly, voices have been whispering in his ear. In the case of Candace Owens, it was the media that did the damage; Trump read something she had allegedly said about him, and believed it. The question now is who has been whispering in his ear about Ron DeSantis?
Difficult though it is to believe, there are some leading Republicans who would rather see Trump gone even if the southern border remains open and the country disintegrates. It remains to be seen what these same people have been saying to DeSantis, but clearly a feud between the two would be a disaster for the Republicans. The solution is simple, DeSantis should make it clear he intends to serve a full term as Florida Governor then perhaps run for President in 2028. As much as some would like to see a Trump DeSantis ticket in 2024, the Don has an even more alluring potential running mate. DeSantis should continue his work in Florida and perhaps turn the entire state red for 2028. And leave the chase for the Vice Presidency to Tulsi Gabbard.