Florida Newspaper Savages Ron DeSantis Flop: ‘Charisma of Burned Toast’

Former Republican candidate Ron DeSantis has been criticized by a Florida newspaper for his failed attempt to run for the presidency.

DeSantis announced on Sunday that he would withdraw from the race to become the GOP nominee for the 2024 presidential election, just days ahead of the New Hampshire primary. His exit leaves former UN ambassador Nikki Haley as the only opponent up against Donald Trump, who is widely predicted to be on the ballot in November.

Daily newspaper the Miami Herald published an opinion piece on January 21, shortly after the Florida governor had announced his intention to bow out of the running. Newsweek has contacted DeSantis for comment via email.

Declaring the end to his 2024 run, DeSantis said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter: “It’s clear to me that a majority of Republican primary voters want to give Donald Trump another chance.”

He also threw his backing behind Trump “because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.”

The article, published with the headline “DeSantis was supposed to save the GOP from Trump, not endorse him,” with the byline “The Miami Herald Editorial Board,” brands DeSantis as having “all the charisma of burned toast” and slams him for failing to break through the “Republican Party’s addiction to Trump.”

Describing his campaign as a “political nosedive” from the height of being “viewed as the strongest candidate” against the former president, the article derides him as “falling in line with the party of Trump.”

The piece claims DeSantis “never wanted to save the GOP” and accused him of wanting to make it “a more ravenous, angrier and intolerant party.” It referenced some of DeSantis’ more divisive views, including his opposition to closing schools during the pandemic and anti-vaccine stance.

DeSantis criticized the federal government during his campaign for its response to the coronavirus pandemic, which began just a couple of months after Joe Biden was inaugurated in 2020. He also embraced vaccine skepticism, with his administration recommending that those under 65 need not bother with an updated coronavirus shot.

The article goes on to slam DeSantis for his “Florida blueprint,” which he attempted to take nationwide, according to the authors. Having won 59 percent of the vote in the Florida gubernatorial election in 2022 up against the centrist Democrat Charlie Crist, he seemingly failed to inspire similar support elsewhere across America.

“Glorified by the media as Trump’s heir apparent and buoyed by his legislative successes, DeSantis soon proved he wasn’t ready for prime time,” the piece reads. “He refused to engage with mainstream media, a strategy that worked for him as governor, until he felt forced to give more attention to outlets like CNN and network news. But that was too late.”

It ends on a note of discontent, lambasting the governor for failing to make any apparent difference to the Republican Party.

“DeSantis could have pitched a kinder form of conservatism or at least a more reasonable version,” the final paragraph reads. “Instead, he banked on exploiting divisions in our country. As he bows out, DeSantis leaves the Republican Party exactly as he found it, under Trump’s dominance.”