Even if DeSantis beats Trump half of the GOP will hate him: George Conway

Lawyer and Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway spoke to MSNBC's Katie Phang on Sunday and explained that he doesn't believe Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will run for president in 2024 and that Donald Trump will have the path cleared before him.

For all of the people that Trump supported in the election, DeSantis did support many of those Republican candidates too. Running for governor in Kansas, Derrick Schmidt lost his attempt to take out Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, despite DeSantis coming to Kansas City for an event in support of Schmidt.

Any battle with Trump will be "brutal," said Conway. Trump has a unique way of defining his opponents effectively eating their presidential aspirations like Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and others.

"The way to go after Trump is hammer and tong," said Conway. "It's going to be the mud fest to end all mud fests. And for DeSantis, I don't see what the upside is for him to do that... even if DeSantis does succeed in knocking off Trump, he will end up with some significant percentage of the Republican base angry at him."

Given how young DeSantis his, Conway said the rational play is to wait.

See the conversation below: