When DeSantis is ready to engage on these issues, his response could help determine the future direction of the Republican Party.
A few weeks ago, I wrote that we should expect Donald Trump to begin attacking Florida governor Ron DeSantis from the left on entitlement reform. His weekend rantings included some opening volleys.
In one posting on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Ron DeSanctimonious wants to cut your Social Security and Medicare . . .”
In another he took a shot at the New York Post, Fox News, and my friend and former colleague Salena Zito, asking, “why doesn’t she mention that he wants to cut Social Security & Medicare . . .”
When DeSantis is ready to engage on these issues, his response could help determine the future direction of the Republican Party. Lately, the party has moved far away from backing reforms to our unsustainable entitlement programs, claiming that they shouldn’t be touched. Will DeSantis embrace this trend, and attempt to back away from his past positions on the need for reform? Or will he stand firm, and argue that absent reform, the programs won’t be able to deliver the promised benefits anyway?
Also, just a parting note on Trump’s shot at Salena for supposedly writing a “puff piece.” As somebody who knows Salena well and who has worked closely with her in the past, I will say the reality is that Salena is simply not a confrontational-style interviewer. Aside from being exceedingly kind, Salena likes to provide her subjects the ability to offer their perspective and tell their stories, rather than preparing for an interview by trying to come up with the most challenging questions possible. This was true in her coverage of Trump and his supporters, which subjected her to years of vicious attacks for being a supposed Trump shill. It’s also, by the way, not a particularly ideological thing. She takes a similar approach to interviews with Democrats, such as her recent conversation with Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro. This is to take nothing away from more adversarial journalists who certainly have an important role to play in holding those in power accountable, but Salena’s approach can often be revealing and break news, too. Salena was one of the few reporters who took Trump’s chances seriously early on in the 2016 cycle based on her conversations with voters, so Trump’s swipe is just more evidence of his being especially thin-skinned.