DeSantis Tries Again for Moscow Primary

The following is part of  The Moscow Primary, an irregular series on yours truly’s speculations regarding the views of the 2024 Republican nomination contest from most important player: the Kremlin.

While everyone else was reacting to Governor Ron DeSantis’ deeply suboptimal campaign announcement, he went on Fox News to continue his pitch to the Kremlin (Florida Politics).

Gov. Ron DeSantis now says he wants a “settlement” in the ongoing Russian war with Ukraine, his latest dovish position in the military conflict.

“In terms of what’s going on over in eastern Europe, you know, I’d like to see a settlement of this.”

If Fox pressed the governor on what he meant by “settlement,” it didn’t make the FL POL story. What was obvious, however, was that DeSantis once more refused to support outright victory for Ukraine. Moreover, the aforementioned campaign launch came via David Sacks, as in …

Oh, joy.

This is typical DeSantis, though. His entire campaign strategy has been Trumpism-with-a-wink-and-nod. He is hoping Republican voters will prefer it to the unvarnished original. Even among Americans, that’s considered unlikely. The idea that Vladimir Putin will sort through all this in the middle of the war is even more unlikely.

However, DeSantis is still trying to win Moscow over. That’s what matters here. For those of us unwilling to see our foreign policy fall under the Kremlin’s control, Trump versus DeSantis remains a thoroughly false choice.