Being an Unlikable Jerk Not Working Out So Well for Ron DeSantis

After the 2022 midterm elections, the broad consensus among Republicans and the conservative media was that Donald Trump was finished and Ron DeSantis was the future of the GOP. Fast-forward approximately six months later, though, and the two men—whose respective ascensions to the White House in 2024 would be equally bad for humanity!—appear to have had a complete role reversal, as demonstrated by a recent poll putting DeSantis behind the former guy by a whopping 36 points. How to account for it all? At the moment, the Florida governor’s woes seem to stem from a variety of factors including that:

Now, many people may reasonably respond to that last point by noting that Trump is an infamous a-hole, and that it doesn’t really make sense that DeSantis would lose ground to him by being a jerk. And we agree, it doesn’t! And yet, for some reason, people think the Florida governor is an even bigger prick. “If you’re going to go into politics, kind of a fundamental skill that you should have is likability. I don’t think [he] has that,” former GOP representative David Trott told Politico last month. “He never developed any relationships with other members that I know of. You’d never see him talking on the floor with other people or palling around. He’s just a very arrogant guy, very focused on Ron DeSantis…. I think he’s an asshole. I don’t think he cares about people.” 

Incidentally, people who seemingly know and maybe even like the Florida governor are also aware that he comes off as a jerk. In a 2018 video obtained and published by ABC News on Sunday, DeSantis is seen doing debate prep for the gubernatorial election, while an adviser off camera tells him he’s got to remember to try to convince people he’s a nice guy. “When you walk up there, you have a pad, you have to write in all caps at the top of the pad: ‘LIKABLE,’” the person instructs him.