Former President Donald Trump has the backing of the majority of Democrats who hope such "marred" candidate will ease Joe Biden’s path back to the White House, a USA Today columnist wrote Tuesday.
Biden’s announcement that he’s seeking re-election has excited few in the Democratic Party, wrote Ingrid Jacques. And they see the best chance for what they consider a weak candidate is to pit him against someone even less likely to win.
That’s why Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has them fearful – they see him as a more viable choice for president than Trump.
“He hasn’t even announced he’s running yet, but the Republican has caught the left's attention big time,” Jacques writes.
"In fact, DeSantis seems to have become the new target of “derangement syndrome," with liberals obsessed over his every move and decision – much like they did throughout the Trump years.“
Jacques claims approval ratings for Biden – who announced his reelection bid early Tuesday – are terrible. More than half of Democrats, and 70% of Americans, want somebody else to be the party’s nominee.
So, if he is running, they want him to face the weakest contender.
And she wrote that Democratic strategists are “adept at dirty tactics,” as seen by the millions of dollars that party strategists spent to fund primary races of the most extreme MAGA candidates in last year’s primaries in the hope that potential GOP voters will be repulsed.
“That’s why some Democratic strategists are putting their money on former President Donald Trump as the Republican nominee next year,” the columnist wrote. “You can bet the party will do everything in its power to make sure that’s the case.”
Though Trump is leading DeSantis in fundraising and polling, he’s beating Biden in hypothetical matchups in battleground states, Jacques said.
“Of course, as Trump proved in 2016 when Democrats also saw him as the weakest competitor, the now-former president shouldn’t be underestimated. A lot has happened, though, in the past seven years."
She added: "Democrats are betting Trump would face a much tougher electorate in the general election – especially given Trump’s rocky last few years, marred by the Jan. 6 riot, multiple criminal investigations and an indictment.
“The fact that Democratic insiders are wishing for Trump should serve as a wake-up call to Republicans: If beating Biden is the goal, then Trump’s not their guy.”
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