Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign reboot is not going to plan, in part as he’s been consistently criticized for his awkward interactions with the general public.
Fernand Amanda, Democratic pollster and strategist, and Christina Greer, The Blackest Questions podcast host, joined Joy Reid’s primetime MSNBC show, “The ReidOut,” on Monday to discuss DeSantis’ shortcomings.
“Ron DeSantis is a true believer,” Greer of some of his more incendiary politics and policies. “So he doubles down and triples down.”
Greer noted that DeSantis supporters, or voters who “thought they liked him,” are now realizing that “there is something off about his ideological drive.”
“It is giving them a touch of pause,” Greer continued, “and now it is giving his donors a lot more pause.”
“You can only retool so many times because you seem inauthentic and inconsistent,” Greer added, commenting on the unremarkable reboot of DeSantis’ presidential campaign.
“If he tries to change or soften up in any capacity now,” she said, “it is not going to seem authentic and his voters are going to move even farther away from him.”
“And it’s just weird,” Reid added. She then played a video of uncomfortable public encounters with DeSantis, caught on camera.
Responding to the clips, Greer said, “There is no joy in the campaigning,” and highlighted how important personal connection is for success in Iowa.
“Ron DeSantis doesn’t seem as though he likes people,” she said — a comment which got a big chuckle from Reid.
“Why would you be inspired to vote for someone or to continue to give money to someone who doesn’t even seem as though he likes you,” Greer questioned, “let alone wants to fight for you?”
“How did he get this far in politics?” Reid wondered aloud. “Make it make sense.”
Amandi replied that DeSantis is “the kind of guy you need 10 beers just to put up with.”
“He’s got no charm, no charisma,” Amandi said. “It is also part of the problem that he has nationally.”
“I know Florida Republican legislators who are on his campaign committee that hate him like poison privately,” Amandi added. “They can’t wait to see him go down.”
Watch the full “The ReidOut” segment in the video above.
