DeSantis keeps waging culture wars, tries to make peace with Trump

ORLANDO, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis has tried lately to shore up his relationship with former President Donald Trump and soften his much-maligned public image even as his culture war agenda continues.

He’s signed laws to allow chaplains in public schools, mandate teaching kindergartners about the history of communism, and ban lab-grown meat that he declared was a plot hatched by the “global elite.”

“It’s a placeholder,” said Dante Scala, a political scientist at the University of New Hampshire, a state where DeSantis campaigned heavily but dropped out before its primary. “I don’t think he and his circle have figured out yet exactly what went wrong. … I don’t know that they have much of a clue what to do for 2028. So when you don’t know what else to do, keep doing the same thing.”

Across the country, bills aimed at transgender people have waned from this time last year, with bills dying even in GOP-controlled states such as Iowa.

But DeSantis said last week that he would “fight back” against new federal regulations banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity at universities and colleges.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit Monday, along with counterparts in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, to try to block the new federal rule.

“His social policies are core to both his identity and to his public brand,” said Gregory Koger, a professor of political science at the University of Miami. “He’s been at the forefront [of] translating them into policy. The rest of the party sees that as an agenda they can run with.”

Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said although it didn’t appear culture war issues were at the top of national GOP voters’ minds in the primary, his focus on them wasn’t the reason for DeSantis’ failure.

“I don’t necessarily think his loss was a rejection of his approach,” Kondik said. “I just don’t think he ended up being all that compelling of an actual candidate.”

‘Kiss the ring’

In the closing days of his presidential campaign, DeSantis was vocal about his frustrations with Trump.

“You can be the most worthless Republican in America, but if you kiss the ring, [Trump will] say you’re wonderful,” DeSantis said in Iowa. “You can be the strongest, most dynamic, successful Republican and conservative in America, but if you don’t kiss that ring, then he’ll try to trash you.”

He held a video call with former donors in March during which he criticized Trump and his potential running mates despite having endorsed him as he dropped out of the race.

But since then, DeSantis has said he would campaign with Trump if asked. The two finally met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in late April, although Trump didn’t praise DeSantis personally.

“We had a great meeting yesterday,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The conversation mostly concerned how we would work closely together to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”

DeSantis has not publicly commented about the encounter, but reports indicate he agreed to help raise money for Trump’s campaign.

DeSantis has rejected the idea of a joint campaign appearance in Florida with Trump by saying the state was now safely Republican.

But Trump said outside his New York trial on charges of election interference that “I would much rather be in Georgia and Florida. I much rather be in states that are in play.”

The Biden campaign has also stepped up its presence in Florida, with Biden slamming the state’s 6-week abortion ban in Tampa and Vice President Kamala Harris doing the same in Jacksonville.

With Florida increasingly important, Koger said it was possible that DeSantis could be considered for Trump’s running mate, but there may be too much bad blood between them.

He said after former Vice President Mike Pence refused to delay certification of Biden’s win on Jan. 6, 2021 amid false claims of fraud, Trump might not trust someone who has criticized him.

“It’s less likely DeSantis gets picked than someone who has been less publicly confrontational over the last year,” Koger said. “Trump prizes loyalty and subservience, and wants to know that the next vice president he asks to violate the Constitution will do it.”

If DeSantis doesn’t get the nod from Trump, Scala said, “The running mate is probably going to be a fairly prominent player for the ‘28 nomination. … who will have been elevated by Trump to a sort of second-place standing. I also think that DeSantis showed enough weakness in ‘24 that he’s not going to dissuade other people from running.”

‘Self-reflection’

DeSantis’ appearances on the primary trail led to national stories listing his “most awkward” and “weirdest” campaign moments, including what seemed like forced laughter and smiles amid a failure to connect with voters in person in Iowa and New Hampshire.

“I think the lesson is part of politics is being likable, and building relationships with other human beings, and he’s working on that,” Koger said.

His lengthy battles with Walt Disney Co. over criticism of the so-called “don’t say gay” law and takeover of the former Reedy Creek special district also fell flat with national voters, Koger said.

“He was acting like a strong man, in person and in public, in ways that cost him support,” he said. “So, publicly, we’ve seen him make peace with Disney. That was a fight he picked because he thought it worked well for him. Now he’s realized that made him look petty and extreme. And now he’s backed off.”

In addition to praising Disney, DeSantis has also tried to soften his image with social media posts focusing on his family, including his wife, Casey, and their children’s new dog.

“From being abandoned on the streets of Tallahassee to finding a new home in the Governor’s residence … welcome Liberty!” DeSantis wrote on X.

Mac Stipanovich, a Tallahassee consultant who has been one of DeSantis’ harshest critics, said the key question for DeSantis was “how much insight he has into himself.”

“He’s promoting things that appeal to the Republican base, but I haven’t seen any signs of self-reflection and humility,” Stipanovich said.

“He just doesn’t have the talent, the special sauce that’s required of great politicians,” Stipanovich said. “Really good politicians are artists, not accountants. … DeSantis is an accountant. He gets in a room and tries to figure it all out. He calculates the odds and the percentages and then he does something. That’s not the stuff of greatness.”

Kondik said Floridians can probably expect DeSantis’ culture warring to continue, for a simple reason: he doesn’t want to be left behind when a new conservative trend appears on the scene.

“There may very well be other things that come up between now and [2028] that become cultural hot buttons,” Kondik said. “Maybe some of those things will be ones DeSantis will end up dealing with in his remaining time as the governor of Florida.”