Q&A – DeSantis v Trump & Is Illegal Immigration Backfiring on Democrats?

Q&A of the Day – DeSantis v Trump & Is Illegal Immigration Backfiring on Democrats? 

Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.  

Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com  

Gettr, Parler & Twitter: @brianmuddradio  

iHeartRadio: Use the Talkback feature – the microphone button on our station’s page in the iHeart app.     

Today’s entry: Hi Brian, I wanted to say a couple things about the remarks you made June 9, about a poll or two showing Desantis ahead of Trump. First, I continue to see no ground swell support for a Desantis presidency. I'm still giving out Trump stickers and people still want them. A guy two doors down from me just put up a Trump flag on the front of his townhouse. It is still Trump's to lose or decline if he decides not to run.  

One figure I heard, you can add to your mix of voter registration facts, is that Florida has taken in 310 thousand non-citizen residents under Joe Biden. There's no telling how many of these people end up registering to vote, if they are not registered already, but that number could surely sway an election.  

If Trump can't beat Joe Biden in 2024, if there can still be a legitimate fair election, and if 2 million illegal immigrants don't end up voting, then NO republican will win in 2024 or afterwards. 

Bottom Line: Well, there’s a lot to tackle here. I’ll start with the DeSantis 2024 talk. You’re right, that last week after citing a couple of recent 2024 straw polls showing DeSantis leading Trump among Republicans, I made a quick mention that it took Jimmy Carter to get Ronald Reagan...so perhaps Biden would bring us Ron DeSantis? That statement was actually less loaded on my end than it may have seen. The reality is that 2024 talk is ridiculously premature at this point – though it's understandable. With the failures of the Biden administration many Americans are looking forward at what’s next. I’m not really inclined to wade into these waters too far at this point for a couple reasons. The first is that a lot can happen between now and then. DeSantis needs to win reelection for there to even be a viable conversation. Trump’s not exactly a spring chicken and the January 6th committee is still actively seeking to try to take him down. A lot can happen between now and a year from now which is about the time most presidential candidates would traditionally announce a run. But there’s another reason. I’m on record as saying that if Donald Trump runs, I don’t think Ron DeSantis will. Incidentally, in my most recent interview with President Trump in December – I said as much, and he agreed.  

Now, Rolling Stone is attempting to stir the pot still further, with a recent report suggesting Trump is looking to stick it to DeSantis by seeking venues near the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee. Is it true? Maybe, though I’d say it’s important to consider the source. The bottom line from my perspective is that 2028 makes much more sense for DeSantis than 2024. Should DeSantis win reelection this year his term as governor would end just in time for him to turn his attention to a presidential run in 2028. If Donald Trump were to win the Presidential election, he’d be out in 2028. The timing works. Now if for whatever reason Trump isn’t in the mix, I’d be surprised if DeSantis didn’t run for president. Now, that’s all simply my opinion and it’s worth what you paid for it. But to the underlying question you’ve raised about DeSantis and Trump going head-to-head. If it did happen could DeSantis win? I do think so.  

Elections are about the future. Just as the ongoing January 6th Committee hearings are tone deaf, obsessing over what happened a year and a half ago, at a time when most Americans are grappling with the highest inflation rate of their lives. Trump risks being tone deaf with his seeming inability to let go of the 2020 election as well. Notably Donald Trump’s favorability rating (44%) is currently higher than any federal political leader. Higher than Biden or Harris. Higher than Pelosi, McCarthy, Schumer, and McConnell. It’s risen six points since he left office, reaching the highest levels to date as he’s stayed largely out of the public eye. The reason he lost the 2020 election wasn’t because of his policies, it was because of his personality. If he were to run again but chose to look backward as opposed to forward, he’d be vulnerable to a strong challenger like DeSantis. If Trump runs and runs on the future like he did the first time, he’d likely be unstoppable. But that’s a big if based on what we’ve seen and heard from him thus far. As for the voter considerations you’ve raised based on non-citizens in Florida and beyond... 

Complete with a voter ID mandate, Florida law clearly prohibits non-Americans from being able to register or to vote in our elections. Additionally, Florida has an ongoing rigorous review of voter rolls for the purpose of reconciling regularly. Thus far this year 118,492 once registered voters have been removed from voter rolls through this process. There are states where I’d be concerned about non-citizens voting. Florida isn’t one of them. But there’s another dynamic in play with the politics of Biden’s open border policy. Speaking sheerly in a political context, it’s backfiring. By a margin of 65% to 28%, recent polling shows Hispanic voters believe the border should be closed and most recently only 44% of Hispanic/Latino voters approve of Joe Biden’s performance – a number that falls to 39% in Florida. Much has been made of the shift to the right by Hispanic voters. Current polling continues to support that notion. Legal immigrants and Hispanic voters generally are rebelling against President Biden and his open border policies.