National Review editor: DeSantis ‘isn’t worse than Trump’

The editor of the conservative National Review magazine is dismissing suggestions from some in the media that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis could be more damaging to the country than former President Trump.

Despite having yet to announce his future political plans, DeSantis has emerged “as the most dangerous Republican in America,” the editor, Rich Lowry, observed in an entry published in Politico Magazine on Thursday.

In a tweet sharing his column, Lowry wrote: “No, DeSantis Isn’t Worse Than Trump.”

“Yet there’s now a cottage industry arguing that Trump is child’s play compared to the dire and growing threat from Tallahassee,” he said.

A number of pundits, including Washington Post columnist Max Boot and Michael A. Cohen of MSNBC, have penned op-eds in recent days arguing DeSantis is smarter and more cunning than Trump, which gives him an advantage politically and makes him more problematic, they suggested.

“Progressives have to decide two things. One is if they really want Trump gone, or if they want him as a foil for the duration,” Lowry countered.

If Democrats really want Trump gone from the greater political discourse, Lowry said, they should welcome DeSantis’s continued ascendance to national prominence.

“DeSantis may be Trumpy in notable respects, but, importantly, he doesn’t exhibit any of Trump’s character flaws,” the conservative journalist added.

A number of popular cultural figures on the right, including podcaster Joe Rogan and television personality Piers Morgan, have in recent weeks publicly expressed support for DeSantis over Trump.

“In all the ways that should matter, in short, DeSantis is better than Trump, and compared to the former president, he is reassuringly normal. In a better world, this would win him some grudging praise from unexpected quarters,” Lowry concluded. “Instead, because he’s a conservative Republican with some chance to be his party’s presidential nominee, he is ipso facto considered a threat to the republic.”