HOW MUCH DOES TRUMP STILL MATTER TO THE GOP?

Florida governor Ron DeSantis wants to be president. By Republican standards, he is a compelling candidate for the role. He signed a bill banning abortion after 15 weeks, he is forcing public-school teachers back into the closet with the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, and when Disney finally objected to the legislation, he cancelled the company’s special tax status. Prior to these accomplishments, he hewed closely to the party’s lax line on COVID, largely refusing to enforce mitigation measures that would have saved lives. DeSantis is extreme, but that does not make him an outlier within the GOP. He is a quintessentially Republican figure, posed for a long future in politics.