Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, once considered a potential Republican presidential candidate, has been struggling with his campaign recently. Even members of his party have expressed uncertainty about his chances of success.
Towards the end of 2022, DeSantis was viewed as a potential successor to Donald Trump to lead the Republican party in the 2024 Election. Trump was heavily criticized, even by members of the GOP, for the party’s underwhelming performance in the midterm elections and is currently facing legal action in a series of criminal investigations.
Despite Trump’s indictments in the New York falsifying business records case and Special Counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents investigation, DeSantis has not been able to capitalize on the situation. He has not gained any ground in the GOP primary polls, and his favorability rating has declined.
As of Thursday (June 29), only 35.9 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of DeSantis, while 45.2 percent view him unfavorably, according to FiveThirtyEight’s national average tracker. However, it’s worth noting that the campaign is still in its early stages, according to experts.
DeSantis attempted to change his fortunes on Friday (June 30), when his War Room team released an ad on the last day of Pride month.
The ad criticized the former President for comments he made in support of the LGBTQ community after the 2016 mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which killed nine people.
The ad contrasted Trump’s support with several anti-transgender bills DeSantis signed into law recently, including laws banning gender-affirming surgery for minors.
Log Cabin, the largest GOP organization representing LGBTQ+ individuals, suggested DeSantis’s ad was “divisive and desperate,” which they shared would alienate “swing-state and younger voters.”
