Ron DeSantis — Trump's biggest Republican rival?

"The Courage to Be Free — Florida's Blueprint for America's Revival" is the name of the book Ron DeSantis launched in late March. The message, with which the 44-year-old has since been touring states that are crucial in the primaries for the Republican presidential nomination,is simple: No US governor has achieved more for their state than he has. Put even more simply in the words of his campaign slogan and supporters' battle cry: "DeSantis 2024 — Make America Florida."

DeSantis is not the first politician to publish a book shortly before declaring his candidacy for the presidency. Indeed, his book starts out like the ultimate job application. He describes his happy childhood in Dunedin on Florida's west coast and particularly his passion for baseball.

It was his athletic talent that enabled DeSantis to study history at the elite universities of Yale and Harvard. He went on to join the US Navy, serving as a military lawyer at the Guantanamo Bay prison, and becoming a legal advisor to the Navy SEAL special unit during the Iraq War, which earned him several medals. 

Congressman to Florida governor

He moved into politics in 2012 and represented Florida's 6th congressional district in the US House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019.

In 2018, he threw his hat into the ring for the Republican primary for Florida governor — and won. In November of that same year, he beat his Democratic opponent by a very slim margin.

Four years later, the married father of three was re-elected by a clear margin. In the swing state of Florida, DeSantis was able to win over voters and this could well be his best argument in the upcoming battle for the White House.

In his home state, the governor has scored points with favorable economic development, tax cuts, and a response to COVID-19 titled "Freedom over Faucism." DeSantis raged against the former chief medical advisor to the US president, Anthony Fauci, and banned companies from requiring employees to show proof of vaccination. Critics nicknamed him as "Death Santis," but many in Florida welcomed his strategy.

DeSantis and Trump are no longer buddies

Former US President Donald Trump played a key role in making his loyal supporter DeSantis "great," and long described him as a "brilliant young leader" — until he realized that he had nurtured a challenger and competitor. Since then, he has referred to the governor as "Ron DeSanctimonious" and labelled him a "hypocrite."

DeSantis has a strategy in response to Trump's attacks: he ignores him, and does not even mention his name in speeches. He is trying to present himself as a hardliner who stands for strict conservative policies, but without chaos, scandals and lawsuits. Indeed, some describe him as "Trump with a brain."

DeSantis also differs from his rival, who is 32 years older, in one important respect. While Trump can effortlessly whip up a frenzy amid a huge hall of supporters, DeSantis is considered a more structured but blander speaker.

Anti-woke agenda in Florida

Ron DeSantis might well be hoping that speeches will not be needed at all and that his policies in Florida are a stand-alone ticket to Washington. "Florida is where woke goes to die," the governor likes to say. He has fueled culture wars in the Sunshine State with his "Stop WOKE," and "Don't Say Gay" laws and the "Parental Rights in Education Law."

"The purpose of our school system is to educate kids, not to indoctrinate kids," Ron DeSantis said, after introducing legislation on how to teach children about slavery, sexuality and gender identity.

As a result of schools fearing a lawsuit, there are increasingly few books about slavery in school libraries, in case they contain "harmful material."

The new sheriff in town

When the Disney Corporation, with its world-famous amusement park in Orlando and 70,000 employees in the state, openly criticized the laws, DeSantis went out of his way to prove he would take on Disney too. He stripped the company of the special status of self-government that it had enjoyed for more than half a century. "There's a new sheriff in town," he pointed out. 

Even before the US Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, De Santis had banned  abortion in Florida after 15 weeks, except in cases such as if the mother's life is in danger. Rape is not considered an exception.

A regular on the arch-conservative Fox News network, De Santis knows exactly how to keep his supporters in line. He vetoed $35 million (€32.4 million) in potential state support for the Tampa Bay Rays as they sought a potential spring training site after the baseball team ran a social media campaign for gun safety following a series of mass shootings. He also lured 48 migrants onto two charter planes with false promises and flew them to a vacation resort popular with Democrats.

Ukraine policy differs from Biden

If DeSantis were to beat Trump in the Republican primaries and eventually go on to succeed Joe Biden as president of the United States, there is likely to be a major change in the country's current foreign policy. "While the US has many vital national interests... becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them," he stated on Fox News.

This article was originally written in German.