There are two very distinct approaches for Republican primary candidates to take after the unprecedented ruling from Colorado’s Supreme Court stripping Trump from the state’s primary ballot. One based on principle, the other on self-preservation.
Candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy clearly came down on the side of principle when he announced he will remove his name from the primary in protest. He called on his GOP rivals to do the same.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chose a decidedly different tactic. He told Newsmax that he will not follow suit and voluntarily take his name off the Colorado ballot.
In his words, “I think the case will get overturned by the Supreme Court, but I’ve qualified for all the ballots, I’m competing in all the states, and I’m going to accumulate the delegates necessary.”
DeSantis reiterated his belief that the decision would fall and was based purely on politics. In a 4-3 decision on Tuesday, Colorado’s highest court decided to erase the former president from the primary ballot over “insurrection” claims that have not resulted in convictions or even charges.
🚨After Vivek Ramaswamy announced he would remove himself from the Colorado primary if Donald Trump is not on the ballot, Ron DeSantis says he will not do the same.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 20, 2023
On Wednesday, the Florida governor went on a curious rant about the news from Colorado.
He asserted that Democrats and the media support the disqualification of Trump from the Colorado ballot as a way to “solidify support” for the 45th president.
Perhaps this was frustration showing from hopelessly trailing the frontrunner. Whatever it was, it is nonsensical to believe that leftists are attempting to prop up Trump’s candidacy through stripping him from the ballot.
Speaking in Iowa, DeSantis charged that “what the left and the media and the Democrats are doing — they’re doing all this stuff, to basically solidify support in the primary for him, get him into the general, and the whole general election is going to be all this legal stuff.”
The Republican explained the left does not want to face someone like himself in the 2024 general election.
DeSantis said he would make the race about Biden’s failures and not legal entanglements. Those, he asserted, would “give Biden or the Democrat or whoever the ability to skate through this thing. That’s their plan; that’s what they want.”
