Presidential primaries have seen dramatic comebacks. Could DeSantis '24 be next?
Ron DeSantis was involved in a traffic accident while in Chattanooga, Tenn., this week raising money for his presidential bid. The candidate was not injured, which may have been the single best piece of news the campaign has had in a while.
The other kind of news for the Florida Republican seemed to be everywhere and all at once. His campaign announced it was shedding a third of its staff and "retooling" its fundraising amid reports of donor desertion. The Associated Press referred to the campaign as "stalled," Rich Lowry of National Review used the words "faltering" and "diminished" in a piece for Politico. The Wall Street Journal editorial page, often a cheerleader for the governor, noted "the headlines say [the campaign] is in an unrecoverable dive."
The media critiques went beyond DeSantis' problems with staffing and fundraising to question his performance on the stump. Stories told of DeSantis "scolding" students at one event for wearing masks and snapping at reporters at a news conference.
Most troubling of all may Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who's Black, who said there had been no "silver lining in slavery."
