Progressive Media’s Anti-Trump Playbook Doesn’t Work against DeSantis

‘Ron DeSantis Shouldn’t Be Covered Like Just Another Republican,” howls Molly Jong-Fast at Vanity Fair. “Florida’s wannabe autocrat and possible 2024 contender isn’t Trump,” she acknowledges, “but he’s as dangerous to democracy.” “Ron DeSantis is just getting started with his rightwing agenda. That should worry us all,” frets media critic Margaret Sullivan at the Guardian. “It’s appalling to see the media lavish DeSantis with so much fawning coverage,” she adds, “especially after all he has done.”

Both of these columns openly take their cues from left-wing journalism professor Jay Rosen, who attacked a column by Michael Bender and Maggie Haberman in the New York Times for analyzing DeSantis’s strategy against Donald Trump’s in “almost pure horse race” terms that covered “either strategy decisions, or the management of postures and appearances.”

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Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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‘Ron DeSantis Shouldn’t Be Covered Like Just Another Republican,” howls Molly Jong-Fast at Vanity Fair. “Florida’s wannabe autocrat and possible 2024 contender isn’t Trump,” she acknowledges, “but he’s as dangerous to democracy.” “Ron DeSantis is just getting started with his rightwing agenda. That should worry us all,” frets media critic Margaret Sullivan at the Guardian. “It’s appalling to see the media lavish DeSantis with so much fawning coverage,” she adds, “especially after all he has done.”

Both of these columns openly take their cues from left-wing journalism professor Jay Rosen, who attacked a column by Michael Bender and Maggie Haberman in the New York Times for analyzing DeSantis’s strategy against Donald Trump’s in “almost pure horse race” terms that covered “either strategy decisions, or the management of postures and appearances.”