The Death of the ‘Reagan Republican’

In the nascent weeks of the 2024 Republican presidential primary, former president Donald Trump has taken to suggesting his (all but announced) main competitor, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, “grooms” high-school girls. He’s deployed his usual sort of crude nicknames, calling DeSantis “Tiny D” and “Meatball Ron.” He suggested that the governor would be working at a Pizza Hut if not for his endorsement.

But now, Trump’s surrogates are firing off insults more likely to cause DeSantis irreparable harm in a GOP primary. They are accusing the governor of once being a “Reagan Republican.”