"Trump drives out Republican voter turnout in a way that no one has ever seen. And he also drives out Democrat voter turnout in a way that no one has ever seen."
On Wednesday's episode of the Dinesh D'Souza podcast, guest host Danielle D'Souza Gill spoke with journalist and filmmaker Mike Cernovich about the differences between former president Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as they gear up for a possible bout in the primary for the GOP nomination for president in 2024.
D’Souza Gill asked Cernovich how it would "play out" in a matchup with Trump, who holds more of the "right wing base," and DeSantis, who could potentially draw voters from the political center. Cernovich answered, "My case for DeSantis is he does not drive out Democrat turn out the way Trump does. So Trump drives out Republican voter turnout in a way that no one has ever seen. And he also drives out Democrat voter turnout in a way that no one has ever seen. If you look at the Florida election, Democrat turnout was kind of abysmal. So if DeSantis were somehow able to run in the general, then it wouldn't be a gimme election for him. But Democrats would be much less interested in coming out to vote en masse."
According to the Census Bureau, the 2020 presidential election had the highest voter turnout in the 21st century and 67 percent of all Americans reported voting with record turnout for both Republicans and Democrats.
"It'd be better for a Republican Senate if DeSantis were running in the general, not because he would turn out the Trump level numbers, but because he wouldn't turn out the Trump level Democrat numbers," Cernovich said.
D’Souza Gill noted that the paradigm of Democrat voter turnout changed after 2020 due to the "mail in ballot machine" and she said if Democrats and their allies in the media "paint DeSantis as like another Trump" with the "same vilification" it could drive GOP voter turnout down.
"The issue is, it won't work for what they're gonna do to DeSantis, it just isn't gonna work," Cernovich said. "That's why even towards the end of Trump's presidency, the attacks didn't work as well as they used to because you'd heard everything. And at some point, at some point, you're just not buying it."
Cernovich then noted that the Democrat's "ballot harvesting machine" works and will continue to work but is limited to mostly urban areas and can be fought successfully in states such as Georgia.
He then said that DeSantis will be divisive as virtually anyone these days can be painted divisively.
"I think this is stupid," he then said. "I don't think that it should matter, but it does. It matters that when you supported Trump, you never knew what you're gonna wake up to: another tweet, another comment, another this another that. There's a certain amount of fatigue that drives away people from supporting him. And with DeSantis you know what you're gonna get, you know, that if you wake up tomorrow, there's not going to be some tweet that could be twisted."
He then said that it would not stick to someone like DeSantis if allegations were made that seemed totally incongruent to who he presents as today.
D’Souza Gil said she didn't think DeSantis was "Trump without the baggage" and Cernovich said he DeSantis was someone "interested in governing and using his power. He's more of a right wing Bill Clinton."Join and support independent free thinkers!
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