An extended whine by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) about Donald Trump's likely reaction should he lose either the Iowa Caucus or the GOP primary in New Hampshire was thoroughly dismantled with a reminder of his own dabbling in elections conspiracy theories when it suits his needs.
At issue was DeSantis telling reporters days ago, "If Trump loses, he will say it’s stolen no matter what, absolutely. He will try to delegitimize the results. He did that against Ted Cruz in 2016. He will do that.
"Even when, like, ‘The Apprentice’ didn’t get an Emmy he said [it was fixed]. I don’t think there’s been a single time he’s ever been in competition for something where he didn’t get it, where he’s accepted [the results].”
But, as MSNBC 's Steve Benen points out, the Florida governor has repeatedly attempted to make a case for election fraud in both his words and deeds.
In particular, Benen cited a New York Times report that stated in part, "For several years, Mr. DeSantis appeared to play both sides of the manufactured controversy over the 2020 election. As governor, he set up a new police unit to monitor the integrity of Florida elections. Before last year’s midterms, he campaigned with Republicans who had vociferously denied the results."
Summing up, the MSNBC analyst suggested, "DeSantis has been only too eager to exploit the conspiratorial nonsense when it suited his purposes," before adding that the Florida governor, whose bid to oust Trump as the potential 2024 GOP presidential nominee never caught fire with conservatives, "has also hit the campaign trail in support for election deniers, and assured far-right voters that he’d 'take a stand against the left’s schemes.'"
With that, Benen congratulated DeSantis for finally acknowledging that the "Big Lie" is exactly that.
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