Trump’s 2016 primary opponents–the Class of 2016, if you will–had two things in common: a raging ambition to be president; and an intense desire to avenge themselves on the man who had humiliated them for the past several years. Seeing blood in the water, most of them plunged in. They were joined by Larry Hogan, who had his own tiny lane and nothing better to do, Rick Scott, who mistakenly believed the GOP electorate was panting for him and massive budget cuts, and DeSantis. It was a full field, to be sure.
Trump started with the advantages of money, name recognition, and a fanatical base. He hoped to play his opponents against each other. But Fox immediately threw its support to DeSantis, and his opponents spent all of their time attacking him, thus wearing him down. Worse, even Ted Cruz ultimately agreed to surrender and support DeSantis. It was a two man race by March.
The numbers told the story–Trump was doomed. What would he do next? Would he gracefully bow out of the race and give DeSantis his complete support?
I will answer that question in my next post, but really, if you have any understanding of Trump, it answers itself.