Some Republicans may definitely be hoping for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to become the 2024 presidential nominee, but “The View” host and former Trump staffer Alyssa Farah Griffin is convinced those people have made a massive “miscalculation.” According to the host, a lesser version of Trump is not going to win over Trump himself.
On Tuesday’s episode of “The View,” the women began their Hot Topics discussion by talking about the possibility of the twice-impeached former president having lost some support among evangelicals over the last few years, because the church has not publicly stated their support for him again yet.
But, Farah Griffin thinks that’s just because they haven’t seen who else is running. That said, even when they do, she doesn’t think Trump has lost any favor in that crowd.
“I honestly think it’s totally overstated. They just haven’t come out and endorsed him yet, because nobody else has declared for President,” she said. “And I hate to say this, but I think reports of Trump’s demise are greatly overstated.”
Farah Griffin has been vocal about the latter portion of that statement, saying something similar several times on the show. And while she admitted that Republicans themselves might like to see DeSantis be the nominee, she doubts very much he could pull it off.
“I think elected Republicans are dying for it to be Ron DeSantis. They think, you know, he’s smarter, he’s not completely out of his mind, he’s not going to stoke an insurrection,” Farah Griffin added. “But I don’t think DeSantis can beat him head-to-head.”
The biggest source of her doubt? The fact that DeSantis has largely similar beliefs as Trump, he just executes them in less extreme — but still terrible — ways.
“That’s the thing, you don’t beat Trump by being Trump lite,” she said. “Which is, I think, the miscalculation of people who think Ron DeSantis is the heir apparent. I don’t think he is.”
You can watch the full segment from “The View” in the video above.
