DeSantis accuses media of attacking him the most, going easy on Trump
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis accused the media Monday night of going easy on former President Donald Trump and training their attacks on him instead.
“Trump, I don’t think he can get elected in this country. I think the media is trying to get him nominated, you see it in the coverage,” the 45-year-old said during a meet-and-greet in Laconia, NH.
“Who’s the guy they come after more than anybody? Me. They don’t want me for sure,” added DeSantis, who argued the press doesn’t want a candidate who “is holding [President] Biden accountable every single day.”
Trump is the clear GOP front-runner in national and early state polling, leading second-place DeSantis by more than 48 percentage points across the US, according to RealClearPolitics.
Several recent polls also show Trump beating Biden in a general election matchup, all but sweeping the incumbent in many swing states.
Despite the 77-year-old former president’s prominence, DeSantis has been the top target for negative ads from his rivals, who have spent more than $25 million attacking his record.
Trump has been on the receiving end of more than $18 million in negative ads, according to data published by Rob Pyers, research director for the California Target Book.
“Money talks,” DeSantis spokesperson Carly Atchinson told The Post.
But as the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses approach, the media have produced several headlines warning of how another Trump presidency could lead to a dictatorship.
On Monday, the Atlantic published a special edition titled “If Trump Wins,” with articles from numerous staff of the publication arguing that Trump’s second term would “be much worse” than his first.
The New York Times published a homepage story headlined, “Why a Second Trump Presidency May Be More Radical Than His First.”
“Donald Trump has long exhibited authoritarian impulses, but his policy operation is now more sophisticated, and the buffers to check him are weaker,” the article read.
An op-ed from the Washington Post published Thursday and written by editor-at-large Robert Kagan had the headline, “A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending.”
In response to DeSantis, supporters of the former — and potentially future — president told The Post the Florida governor was “desperate.”
“Saying the fake news media has been easy on Donald Trump is like saying the sky is green,” said Make America Great Again Inc. spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
“The media has colluded daily for eight years to viciously smear President Trump with lies. Despite the endless attacks, President Trump is stronger than ever, and Ron DeSantis is still losing.”
