Trump in a 'near-panic' and 'running scared' from DeSantis: Conservative

Donald Trump's increasingly ramped-up attacks on Ron DeSantis (R-FL) despite the fact the Florida governor has yet to announce a bid for the Republican party's 2024 presidential nomination is evidence that the former president is in a "near panic' about his future, a leading conservative said.

In a featured column for the National Review, editor-in-chief Rich Lowrey pointed out that the former president has been the front-runner for the GOP 2024 nod since he lost the election in 2020 and nothing has changed since then, but you wouldn't know that based on his over-reaction to an impending DeSantis challenge.

According to Lowrey, Trump appears to be "running scared."

"Trump is like no front-runner we’ve ever seen — not necessarily in his strength or in his weakness, but in his manifest insecurity," the conservative editor suggested.

As he notes, confident frontrunners tend to ignore their competition, refusing to give their campaigns attention and oxygen, but the former president can't seem to help himself when it comes to the Florida Republican interloper.

"Front-runners usually try to glide above the rest of the field, seeking to reinforce their dominant status by their lack of engagement with mere also-rans. This usually doesn’t work but, still, they don’t show desperation, unless they’ve been seriously wounded," he wrote.

"Following Trump’s Truth Social account, you’d think Ron DeSantis was running away with it, and an envious and obsessed Trump was trying to figure out some way, any way, to begin to close a 20-point gap."

He then suggested the former president gives all the appearances of having "some sort of personal meltdown."

"Certainly, it’s better for a front-running candidate to be vigilant about potential threats rather than complacent. But being on guard is one thing. Being in a near-panic — and advertising ill will, pettiness, and an extreme defensiveness — is another," Lowrey cautioned before suggesting, "There are signs that Trump is in a strong position in the nomination fight — his fixation with Ron DeSantis is not one of them."

You can read his entire piece here -- subscription is required.