Ron DeSantis losing clout after presidential campaign flop: 'On the way down'

Gov. Ron DeSantis' act is wearing thin after he spent much of his political capital in an ultimately unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

The Florida Republican's combative persona made him a leading contender to succeed Donald Trump as the party's leader, but the former president quickly dispatched him in the GOP primaries and sent him back home, where he found a somewhat chilly reception, reported Politico.

“You’ve got to be nice to people on the way up because there is going to come a time when you are on the way down,” said state Rep. Randy Fine, a Brevard County Republican who's running for state Senate.

Fine had initially endorsed DeSantis for president but switched over to Trump last fall, saying he hadn't taken a strong enough stance against antisemitism in the state, and he has openly criticized the governor for traveling to Ireland for an economic development trip that happened to coincide with Florida State playing a football game in Dublin.

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“I think about just every lobbyist in Tallahassee made that trip," replied DeSantis, whose allies tried but failed to recruit a challenger for Fine in this month's primary. "Is Rep. Fine going to stop taking the money from all the lobbyists like he’s been doing?”

Fine fired back, calling his remarks a “childish response to legitimate criticism," and DeSantis aides started mocking the legislator on social media, and Fine called those comments unprofessional and said the legislature should consider eliminating some positions in the governor's office.

DeSantis saw a slate of school board candidates he backed underperform in the Aug. 20 primary and this week he was forced to withdraw a widely unpopular plan to add golf courses and hotels to some state parks as part of his “Great Outdoors Initiative," and initiatives on abortion access and recreational marijuana seem likely to pass over his objection.

“I don’t think the backlash about parks was about him being a lame duck,” said veteran political consultant Jamie Miller, who previously worked for the state GOP. “But I also do think that when the governor was tone-deaf in the past, people would go along with it. And now they’re positioning themselves for their political futures and you won’t see them do that.”