Not Helping: Trump PAC Spends More Attacking DeSantis Than Backing Mid-Term Candidates

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: it’s utterly unhelpful to attack fellow Republicans in such a hardcore manner. It can harm them for other races, and can diminish Republicans overall. Ronald Reagan had his 11th commandment “Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican,” which originated with Gaylord Parkinson in the 1960’s, when he said “Henceforth, if any Republican has a grievance against another, that grievance is not to be bared publicly.”

Trump PAC Has Now Spent More Attacking DeSantis Than Backing GOP Midterm Candidates

Former president Donald Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., has now spent more money on attack ads targeting Florida governor Ron DeSantis than it previously did on supporting Republican candidates in the 2022 midterms.

Trump, who is the current frontrunner in the 2024 presidential race, has launched a series of attacks against DeSantis, who is expected to enter the race this week. MAGA Inc. has spent $15.3 million attacking the Republican governor and just $1,500 on supporting Trump.

In the 2022 midterms, the PAC spent $15 million to support Republican candidates in the key swing states of Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio and Nevada. Republicans lost Senate races in four out of those five states, with only Ohio Republican J.D. Vance securing a win.

A spokesperson for DeSantis said the figures make clear that Trump views DeSantis as a threat.

“These are the largest ongoing expenditures against a non-candidate in Republican primary history, and that’s all you need to know to draw the obvious conclusion: Governor DeSantis presents the best option for defeating Joe Biden,” DeSantis political team press secretary Bryan Griffin told National Review.

Trump forgets that the true enemy is the Biden and the Democratic Party, not fellow Republicans. You beat fellow Republicans with better policies and campaigning, not smears. What if DeSantis wins the primary? Trump will have diminished him in the eyes of the voters, making it harder to win, and the number one priority should be defeating Biden in 2024. You know Trump will attack all the other Republicans who have and will declare.

Pro-Trump ads attack DeSantis for policies Trump once also embraced

…

What’s unusual about the pro-Trump ads is that they attack DeSantis for policy positions that once enjoyed broad support within the Republican Party — so much so that Trump also embraced these same ideas.

In other words, these ads offer a template for President Biden to attack either Trump or DeSantis if either becomes the Republican presidential nominee.

Trump is hitting DeSantis on Social Security and Medicare reform, positions that Trump himself held.

Finally, the pro-Trump group repeatedly has attacked DeSantis for having expressed support for a “FairTax” system. As a member of Congress, DeSantis several times co-sponsored a bill that would implement a sweeping new tax system. (snip)

As far as we can tell, DeSantis has not backed away from his support of the idea, though he also appears not to have talked about it since he left Congress and became governor. But guess who also talked it up? That’s right, Trump, during the 2016 presidential election campaign.

Stop doing this. Attack Biden. Attack Democrats. They are the enemy. Yes, enemy. Democrats have long ago embraced the notion that Republicans are enemies, not opponents. Republicans need to understand this.

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