Ron DeSantis

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 a report from CNN, red states like Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, Missouri, and others are launching a new front in their quest to seize authority over local prosecutors and policing policies.

“If left unchecked, local jurisdictions in states with conservative legislatures whose political majority does not match their own may find themselves subject to commandeering on an unprecedented scale,” the Legal Defense Fund's Janai Nelson tells CNN.

With Gov. Ron DeSantis becoming a legitimate contender for the 2024 Republican Party presidential nomination, there is a growing concern that Donald Trump could run as a third-party candidate if only to exact revenge on the party for rejecting him.

In his column for the Wall Street Journal, former George W. Bush speechwriter William McGurn claimed that the former president is both the leading contender for the nomination and a dark cloud looming over the future of the GOP if he doesn't get what he wants.

Many Republicans — particularly those who are either running for president or considering running for president — are acting like it's a done deal Trump will not be the nominee in 2024. But in fact the data show that is not only possible but still the most likely scenario, reported conservative Axios analyst Josh Kraushaar on Tuesday.

"Trump's rivals and critics underestimated him in 2016, often treating him as a sideshow rather than a front-runner. They risk repeating that mistake," reported Kraushaar. "Many of those either running for the GOP nomination or considering a run are spending more time focused on dinging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis than Trump, the actual frontrunner."

During an appearance on "CNN This Morning" with co-host Poppy Harlow, a former head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) scoffed at comments made by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis about the collapse and government takeover of Silicon Valley Bank.

According to Sheila Bair, who headed the FDIC after being appointed by former President George W. Bush, there were systemic problems within the bank that led to its demise, before making the point that the DeSantis comments aren't worthy of being taken seriously.

Donald Trump trashed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a preview of their Republican presidential primary battle, and MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said it could drag the party's 2024 chances down.

The former president unleashed his insults during a speech in the same Iowa city where DeSantis had promoted his book -- and presumptive White House campaign -- and the "Morning Joe" host said Trump's attacks were playing right into Democrats' hands.

Trump said if DeSantis joins the 2024 presidential race, his track record on ethanol and Social Security could cost him the Iowa caucuses. “I don’t think you’re gonna be doing so well here,” Trump said. “But we’re gonna find out.”

In 2017, DeSantis – then a U.S. representative – supported legislation that would have ended the Renewable Fuel Standard, which sets how much renewable energy must be be blended into the nation’s fuel supply. Trump said he would defend the Iowa ethanol industry from lawmakers seeking to cut subsidies, and he pledged to support increasing ethanol production.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow explained that over the last several years, there has been a rise of extremism in the U.S., and added that it isn't just about the far-right and their cozy relationship with conservatives.

In one case, author Jodi Picoult had one of her best-selling books banned from a Florida library because a parent objected to the telling of a story involving the Holocaust.

In 2020, when Donald Trump without evidence alleged election fraud, some of his Republican colleagues openly disputed the former president’s baseless assertion. But there was no organized pushback against the party’s leader from within the GOP.

But the extent to which Trump accepts the results of GOP-administered primary elections in 2024 has some Republican insiders concerned, Politico reports.

A once reliably blue county is attracting potential Republican presidential candidates with deep-pocketed donors, The Palm Beach Post reports.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who hasn’t yet announced his candidacy but has privately indicated that he seeks to pursue the Republican nomination, has visited Palm Beach County four times since early February, according to the report.

A road rage incident in Nashville on Sunday left an elderly woman hospitalized with serious injuries, WSMV 4 reports.

Billy Johnson (aka Billy Jackson), 48, who is accused of throwing the woman into traffic, has been charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, according to the report, which cites court documents.

In an grim column for The Atlantic, American University Law Professor Kimberly Wehle warns that the current Supreme Court with its 6-3 conservative majority has become "a threat" to the country as it runs roughshod over previous rulings while usurping the powers of the executive and legislative branch unchecked.

As Wehle explains, using recent rulings including the highly controversial overturning of Roe v Wade last year, the court, bolstered by three far-right justices appointed by former president Donald Trump, has taken on cases that expose "the right-wing majority’s appetite for asserting massive power under the auspices of judicial review."

Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is leading the charge against "wokeness" and diversity, this time falsely blaming "DEI" – diversity, equity, and inclusion – as the reason Silicon Valley Bank collapsed on Friday.

“I mean, this bank, they’re so concerned with DEI and politics and all kinds of stuff. I think that really diverted from them focusing on their core mission,” DeSantis told Fox Corp.'s Maria Bartiromo on Sunday, as Florida Politics reports.