DeSantis Suffering Backlash for 'Listless Vessels' Comment Provides a Fun, Teachable Lesson About Insulting Voters
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida found himself in hot water over the weekend thanks to an ill-advised comment.
In an interview Friday with Will Witt of The Florida Standard, a conservative news outlet, DeSantis cautioned Republican voters against becoming “listless vessels” who unthinkingly follow former President Donald Trump’s lead.
DeSantis’ remark prompted criticism from Trump’s campaign as well as from the governor’s own supporters. Some have interpreted the comment as the latest example of elitist contempt for Trump’s working-class MAGA voters. Others believe the governor guilty of making an important point in a clumsy way.
The full context of the interview allows for both interpretations. It is best, therefore, to try to understand what DeSantis might have been thinking and also how the average MAGA voter might reasonably have interpreted the “listless vessels” comment.
During the Friday interview, Witt noted that many of Trump’s supporters regard DeSantis as an establishment Republican. The governor clearly bristled at the charge, calling it “totally fabricated.”
DeSantis then defended his record in both Florida and the U.S. Congress. He cited achievements on a half-dozen issues important to conservatives.
“I’ve been fighting the Republican Establishment my whole career, including as a founding member of the Freedom Caucus,” he said.
Thus far, DeSantis’ comments included nothing that would alarm any Republican voter, MAGA or otherwise.
When pressed by Witt, however, on whether MAGA people actually believe that the Florida governor represents the Republican Establishment, DeSantis waded into his first potential minefield.
“I don’t think they think it,” the governor said.
Oh boy. If they don’t think it, then why do they say it? Are they merely responding to dog whistles? The governor must clarify.
“I think that we have a strand in our party that views supporting Trump as whether you are a RINO or not, and so you could be the most conservative person since sliced bread, [and] unless you’re kissing his rear end they will somehow call you a RINO,” DeSantis said.
Here DeSantis appeared resentful of Trump and contemptuous of voters who, according to the governor, do not think for themselves.
DeSantis quickly recovered, however, and made an important point with genuine clarity. He described the current RINO question as “totally detached from principle and what you actually believe and results.”
“So there’ll be people who are huge Trump supporters like in Congress who have, like, incredibly liberal, left-wing records that’s really just atrocious, and yet they’re viewed by some of these folks as, like, really, really good,” the governor added.
DeSantis posed a legitimate question. Have Trump and his working-class supporters pulled the traditional Republican Party too far to the left? The governor might not persuade MAGA voters on this point, but the discussion at least has merit.
In fact, it sounds like a battle for the party’s proverbial soul.
Could DeSantis make this point without insinuating that Trump’s supporters respond to dog whistles? He tried.
“Ultimately, a movement can’t be about the personality of one individual,” the governor said. “The movement has gotta be about what you are trying to achieve on behalf of the American people, and that’s gotta be based in principle because if you’re not rooted in principle — if all we are is listless vessels that [are] just supposed to follow, you know, whatever happens to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that’s not gonna be a durable movement,” he added.
Readers can watch the relevant portion of the interview here:
In the end, the governor spoke of principles but did not stick to them. Rather than focus on what he regards as Trump’s deviations from conservative positions and values, DeSantis returned to the voters.
Detached from context, the governor’s larger point has merit. The conservative movement does depend on adherence not to candidates but to conservative principles.
Directed to these particular voters, however, “listless vessels” amounts to a benign-sounding substitute for the “MAGA cult” slander.
If DeSantis sincerely believes that the MAGA movement revolves around Trump’s “personality,” or that MAGA voters do not really think the things they say because they only look to Trump for direction, then the governor’s problem stems from either an elitist disposition or a grotesque misunderstanding of his opponent’s supporters.
If, on the other hand, DeSantis meant only to amplify his point about conservative principles, then he committed nothing more than a tactical and rhetorical error.
Predictably, left-wing outlets such as Politico and Mediaite gleefully reported the Republicans’ intra-party kerfluffle. Both reports quoted Trump campaign officials as comparing DeSantis’ remark to Hillary Clinton’s infamous “deplorables” line.
During the 2016 presidential campaign, Clinton, then the Democratic nominee, described half of Trump’s supporters as a “basket of deplorables.” She quickly expressed at least partial regret over her comment.
On Saturday, the DeSantis campaign responded with a statement blaming the “dishonest media.” One DeSantis supporter posted the statement on X, formerly Twitter, with an accompanying tweet that amplified the official statement.
“The leftist media are once again refusing to report the facts. The media continue to attack @RonDeSantis because they know he’s the biggest threat to their power. Not only do they know that he beat Biden, but that he can actually follow through on his promises!” the tweet read.
The leftist media are once again refusing to report the facts.
The media continue to attack @RonDeSantis because they know he’s the biggest threat to their power. Not only do they know that he beat Biden, but that he can actually follow through on his promises! pic.twitter.com/M8WhZR73Nw
— Zach Montanaro (@ZachMontanaro) August 20, 2023
Meanwhile, some of DeSantis’ higher-profile supporters have lamented the governor’s “listless vessels” comment.
According to the Gateway Pundit, for instance, a Fox News panel over the weekend expected the comment to land exactly as Trump campaign officials hoped.
“It’s so frustrating because Ron DeSantis has such a tremendous record to run on,” panelist Charlie Hurt said. Alas, the governor is “failing,” and “the biggest tell is when you go after the voters that you’re supposed to win over and you attack them and you mock them,” Hurt added.
DeSantis supporter Tomi Lahren agreed.
“Moving forward on this DeSantis comment, it was not a good comment to make, and I’m sure he is kicking himself, and I’m sure he wishes he could rephrase it,” Lahren said.
Lahren correctly noted, however, that DeSantis had a larger point to make even if he made it poorly.
“Now, what I heard him say is maybe a kernel of the truth. And I’ll tell you what I believe he was trying to get across, and he failed at it. I think what he was trying to say is this I am not a RINO simply because I am running against Donald Trump,” Lahren added.
Here Lahren identified the solid, principled ground on which DeSantis stood if only he had stayed there.
The bottom line to this story is both instructive and unfortunate.
Trump commands the support of voters who believe they have no power. America’s institutions do not represent them. Furthermore, the establishment despises them. The rich and well-connected types have rigged the system against the working class and can barely conceal their contempt for ordinary people.
When Clinton called Trump supporters “deplorables,” she meant it, no matter what she said after the fact. She has shown her true elitist colors. That 2016 comment would not be the last time she denigrated ordinary Americans as racist, bigoted, cultists, etc. Her mind is vile.
Likewise, when Joe Biden cursed at a factory worker during the 2020 presidential campaign, the then-Democratic candidate revealed his authentic self.
“I’m not working for you, gimme a break, man. Don’t be such a horse’s a**,” Biden told the worker according to NBC News. The corrupt career politician meant every word.
In 2012, cameras caught Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney making elitist comments about President Barack Obama’s voters. For once, The Washington Post told the truth when it reported that the comments “played directly into the stereotype of Romney as an out-of-touch rich guy that President Obama and his campaign were playing up.” The stereotype rings true.
The unfortunate thing about the present controversy is that DeSantis never struck Trump voters as contemptuous of them. In fact, the perception was quite the opposite.
When Trump began attacking the Florida governor and referring to him as “DeSanctimonious,” I spoke to one ardent Trump supporter who told me he felt uncomfortable about it.
It does seem strange and disquieting. After all, people who voted for Trump in Florida also backed the popular governor.
Furthermore, DeSantis also won the support and gratitude of people who found themselves powerless. From his establishment-bucking COVID policies to his assault on institutional wokeness, DeSantis appeared not as a mere politician but as a warrior against true evil.
As a presidential candidate, however, DeSantis has squandered nearly all of that goodwill.
Either the Florida governor has suddenly revealed a deep contempt for people whose basic values he shares, or he has campaigned poorly and allowed his frustrations to get the better of him.
It might not help him with MAGA voters in 2024, but we could not be blamed for betting on the latter.
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