Ron DeSantis is not prepared to square off against ex-President Trump in the Republican nomination for president, according to political strategist and writer Van Jones.
Jones has offered unsolicited advice for the Florida governor (who hasn’t declared for president) and urges him to keep a low profile.
This week, a group backing DeSantis aired its first television ad, in which it blasted Trump for attacking DeSantis for his positions on Medicare and Social Security and then shifting the blame to a former president.
On Wednesday, The Hill received an exclusive clip from the upcoming episode of “Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out The News,” in which CNN political analyst Jones expresses his belief that such an approach would be futile.
Jones explained that the problem that someone like DeSantis is that he doesn’t know how to fight. He said if he believes he can beat Donald Trump by picking nits about policies, he hasn’t watched Donald Trump.
Trump frequently uses smear campaigns and other dirty tricks to attack his rivals. For instance, he once forwarded a social media message that implied DeSantis had thrown a party with minor girls while teaching high school. An organization that backs Florida Governor Ron DeSantis responded on television to an ad produced by a pro-Trump group that mocked a story about DeSantis eating pudding with his fingers while criticizing his policies.
Jones advised that DeSantis make the confrontation with Trump more personal by personally addressing him.
He said the best way to bring down Donald Trump is to strike at his core values. Another commenter on the show noted that Trump is a vain man.
“You talk about his hair. You talk about his looks. You talk about his family.”
“Unfortunately, that is not in the Ron DeSantis playbook,” Van Jones said. “It’s obvious he hasn’t been preparing for this fight by his lack of fitness.”
