Former GOP strategist gives scathing assessment of Ron DeSantis's political future: 'MAGA version of Tim Pawlenty'

Although Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has drawn a lot of hype as a potential 2024 White House contender, one-time Republican strategist Steve Schmidt believes he doesn't have what it takes.

Writing on Twitter, Schmidt delivered a scathing assessment of DeSantis's political skills, which he said would be exposed the minute he starts actually running for president.

"Ron DeSantis is a 42-year-old punk who got elected to Congress and then Governor, gambled with his constituents lives and lost," Schmidt wrote. "His pugnaciousness and ambition were confused by many as a type of charisma. He is the MAGA version of Tim Pawlenty or Scott Walker, meager talents who were never going to play in the NFL. They were always Division 3 Quarterbacks, too slow for the big show."

Schmidt also dismissed DeSantis's political machine as "a mom and pop political operation controlled by his wife, a latter day Florida version of Mrs. Wilson," while also criticizing DeSantis for lacking the emotional intelligence to make consistent eye contact.

Schmidt went on to say that Fox News host Tucker Carlson is the actual new leader of former President Donald Trump's nationalist movement, and he pointed to Carlson's visit with Hungary's right-wing leader Viktor Orban this week as proof.

Read the whole thread here.