Ron DeSantis, once a favourite among the Republican Party elite for the presidential nomination, has left the race after a lacklustre and uninspiring campaign. It’s a moment of humility for those of us who thought the Florida governor, as a less flashy but more competent (and therefore more dangerous) reactionary conservative made in Donald Trump’s image, had every advantage, even over the original.
It turns out that there’s nothing like the real thing. A large majority of Republican voters like Trump’s policies, which DeSantis was ready to adopt. But what many of them really like is Trump’s style, and particularly his recklessness and propensity to cause great damage. They don’t just want a president who will make their lives better. They want a president who will do his damndest to destroy what many of them see as a fundamentally broken system, and punish those who they believe broke it (liberals, feminists, racial justice activists, intellectuals, LGBTQ people, non-Christians and Democrats broadly). They also want to be entertained by the cruelty; they want a brutal leader who creates a spectacle, makes them laugh and gives them permission to be as nasty as they want to be.
Content from our partners
