Chris Sununu, Larry Hogan, and Trump Are All Piling on "Meatball Ron"

I know polls mean nothing, especially this far out, but a New York Post poll finds that DeSantis beats Trump head-to-head, but Trump beats DeSantis as long as there are other non-Trump candidates in the race to split the non-Trump vote.

Like that idiot Nikki Haley.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis leads former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical 2024 GOP presidential primary, as long as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley stays on the sidelines, a new poll finds.

In a head-to-head matchup, DeSantis, 44, gets the better of the 76-year-old former commander-in-chief, the Yahoo News/YouGov survey released Wednesday shows -- with 45% of registered Republican voters or GOP-leaning independents favoring the Florida governor and 41% supporting Trump. With Haley in the mix, however, the survey finds Trump leads the field with 38% support, followed by DeSantis (35%) and Haley (11%).

Haley, who served as US ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, is expected to announce her 2024 presidential candidacy on Feb. 15. At 11%, she is polling better than former Vice President Mike Pence (4%), former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (2%), and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (1%), according to the survey.

Fortunately for Trump, many liberals are planning to run as "Republicans Who Hate the Republican Party" in 2024.

Pro-abortion "libertarian" liberal Chris Sununu took a shot at DeSantis, saying that DeSantis wasn't strong on "personal freedom" -- like the right to abortion -- like he and "socially-liberal libertarian Republicans" -- that is, Democrats -- are.

Sununu sees a group of leaders -- the party's would-be presidential contenders, himself included -- but said "you never pin leadership of a party on one individual, you really can't."

The governors were clearer on what they don't want to see from their party going forward: The heckling some Republican lawmakers did during Biden's State of the Union speech.

"The Republicans, frankly, were rude. There's no doubt about it," Sununu said, describing Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' response to Biden's address as "very politically driven" and "unhelpful" in its suggestion that "all Democrats are crazy."

Alexa Henning, Huckabee Sanders' communications director, rejected Sununu's criticisms. "That isn't what she said," Henning said, "so it's actually Chris that assumes half the country is crazy."

Don't call him a moderate. Sununu made it clear Thursday, as he mulls a 2024 presidential bid, that he's as conservative -- if not more conservative -- than any Republican discussing a presidential bid.

"I'm ranked the most fiscally conservative governor in the country. I'm No. 1 in personal freedoms. Sorry, Ron, you're No. 2," Sununu said in a knock on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who's considered a presidential frontrunner.

The libertarian-leaning Cato Institute ranked Sununu second-most fiscally conservative, behind Iowa's GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds. DeSantis was ranked 20th, behind some Democrats, including Cooper.

"Am I more moderate on social issues? Yeah, maybe," Sununu, who typically describes himself as "pro-choice," said. "But I've gotta stand for management. I'm a manager. I'm a CEO."

What he means by strong on "personal freedoms" is what all "libertarians" mean by it: When the Democrats weaponize the power of government against the citizen, Republicans can't fight back.

And also, that abortion is a sacrament.

And so is transgender conversion "therapy" for children.

Liberal Republican hopeful Larry Hogan, who has previously attacked Ron DeSantis for the Parental Rights In Education bill -- like other "moderate" Republicans, Hogan supports pink-haired teachers secretly transitioning your children behind your back.

He also opposed DeSantis' ban on cruise lines imposing their own vaccine mandates. He, like all other liberal Republicans, is big on supporting corporations' rights vis-a-vis the government -- but when it comes to people's rights to be free of government mandates, suddenly his pretty songs about "freedom" stop entirely.

Corporations have rights. People don't. Mitt Romney 2012.

A couple of weeks ago Hogan said DeSantis didn't have "broad appeal among voters" because DeSantis, unlike Hogan and Sununu, concentrates too much on pleasing Republican voters and not Democrats as these "moderates" think is the most important thing.

The Times claims that Trump has a couple of new nickames for DeSantis:

Former President Donald Trump is trying out new nicknames for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, including "Meatball Ron," per The New York Times.

Trump has used the insult, which is meant as a jab at DeSantis' appearance, in private conversations, The Times reported on Sunday.

Trump has also called DeSantis "Shutdown Ron" in private, per The Times. This is a reference to DeSantis' March 2020 executive order that temporarily closed bars and nightclubs in Florida because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Shutdown Ron" is a non-starter, Muh Dude. You shut down the whole country, remember?

Trump denies calling DeSantis "Meatball Ron" but it does sound... Trumpish.

"All of the Fake News is reporting that I spend large amounts of my time coming up with a good 'nickname' for Ron DeSanctimonious, who is obviously going to give the presidential 'thing' a shot," Trump wrote. "They are all 100% wrong, I don't even think about it -- A very unimportant subject to me!!!"

He says he spends no time trying to craft a good "nickname" (his quotes) for "Ron DeSanctimonious."

Is he trying to say he's already found his winner? I think I like "Meatball Ron" better than "Ron DeSanctimonious." Meatball Ron is a dumb nickname that knows it's a dumb nickname. "Ron DeSanctimonious" is a dumb nickname that thinks it's being clever.

Meanwhile, DeSantis hasn't made up his mind about running, but he's leaning in favor of it. He's thinking about the summer as a time to announce his run.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is inching closer to launching a White House bid for 2024, with the Florida governor reportedly eyeing an announcement in late May or early June.

Although DeSantis has not announced whether he intends to seek the GOP presidential nomination, several Republican advisers close to the governor say he has already made up his mind on the matter. However, an announcement is not expected to come until after the Sunshine State concludes its legislative session in late May.

"I think his mind is pretty much made up at this point," a GOP operative told the Hill. "My read on it is: Let's get through [the legislative] session, get some stuff done, and see where things stand. But unless something changes drastically between now and then, I'd say he's a go."

Advisers for DeSantis have already begun the hiring process to beef up his campaign team, with some of the governor's advisers laying the groundwork for a national campaign, the outlet reported. However, it's still unclear when he may make the final announcement -- with some GOP operatives pushing him to make the move sooner rather than later.

posted by Ace at 05:55 PM

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