According to a column by longtime political observer Jonathan Chait, conservatives are affording Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) the "Donald Trump treatment," by which he means they are more than willing to look the other way as his state leads the country in botching the Covid pandemic because they have given up and embraced the "kooks" in their party.
Writing that "DeSantis is the patron saint of a segment of the conservative Establishment that has made its peace with Donald Trump largely by pretending he does not exist. DeSantis has followed their strategy of ignoring Trump's lies and authoritarianism while cultivating his followers with more refined attacks on their shared enemies," Chait added that DeSantis is also benefiting from similar conservative tunnel vision.
"DeSantis has moved far enough to the extreme that they have now been forced into the position of applying the same method to DeSantis that they used for Trump," he continued before explaining that they have created in their minds a DeSantis who can do no wrong which is at odds with reality if Florida's death total from Covid- 19 is to be believed.
As a prime example of the DeSantis deification, Chait points to a column in a Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post lavishing praise on the controversial Florida governor
"[Karol] Markowicz's thesis is that the fact that the COVID surge in Florida is declining right now proves DeSantis has been correct all along. 'Florida,' she writes, 'is doing better in per-capita cases and deaths from COVID than states that put in universal mask mandates and lockdowns,'" he quoted before dismissing the columnist's observation as a moment in time that doesn't reflect the long-term reality.
Reflecting more on the bungling of DeSantis with regard to the pandemic, Chait explained what is going on with conservatives looking for a new hero.
"DeSantis's courtship of the anti-vaccine movement embarrasses many of his fans. But rather than put any pressure on him to stop his dangerous kookery, they're constructing a fake version and pretending it's the real thing," he suggested. "The popularity of DeSantis with the Republican elite is a case study in a party that has given up on solving its kook problem and is instead determined to paper it over."
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