Mark Krikorian, who is executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, tells AFN he is speaking for himself, as an American voter, when he looks ahead to 2024 and a pivotal presidential election.
“As an individual voter,” he says, “I'm liking Ron DeSantis.”
DeSantis, a former federal prosecutor and U.S. congressman, is seeking re-election after winning a first term as The Sunshine State’s governor in 2018. He won a razor-thin 50%-49% victory over Democrat Andrew Gillum, who was serving as Tallahassee mayor.
So is DeSantis running for president? He delivered a speech last week to supporters at a pricey campaign luncheon, where supporters who paid thousands to hear him speaker said he sounded like a presidential candidate.
“Why else is he here?” one supporter told a local TV news station.
A second DeSantis supporter said he denounced left-wing “wokeism” by highlighting his fight with Disney Corp. and defending a state law that shields young children from being indoctrinated with gender-identity propaganda.
The tens of thousands of dollars raised can be used for the current re-election campaign for governor and also for a first run for the White House.
A larger-than-life figure lurking in the background, of course, is Donald J. Trump. At a Turning Point USA event over the weekend, Trump handily won a straw poll with nearly 79% support. In second place, but trailing far behind, was DeSantis with 19%.
According to Krikorian, Trump still drives Democrats and the Far Left into a crazed state of anger and hate never seen in U.S. politics. And that hate, he says, gets Democrats to the polls.
“Even [Ronald] Reagan didn't evoke the kind of almost demented loathing,” he says, “that a lot of people on the left have for Trump, which I don't really get.”
If the Democratic Party persists with its far-left insanity in 2024, Krikorian says, a future President DeSantis could win 40 states and give a “walloping” to the Democrats.
