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In ‘God Made a Fighter’ Ad, DeSantis Paves Way To Replace Trump as Anointed One

Meanwhile, other conservative figures have begun to outline support for DeSantis. Conservative Christian writer Rod Dreher, who recently moved to Hungary, responded to Trump’s name-calling by referring to the former president as an “idiot.”

The Rev. Tony Suarez, the COO of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference who was among Trump’s evangelical advisers and now also counts himself a “huge Ron DeSantis fan,” said he was impressed by the ad. “My first reaction was: someone on the media team needs a raise, because it’s impacting,” he said. “Wow, it’s strong.”

But Suarez questioned the timing of the ad. Describing it as a possible “teaser” for DeSantis’ presidential bid, Suarez expressed ambivalence about anyone running against Trump in 2024. Rumors have already begun to swirl that the former president may announce a third White House bid as soon as Monday evening.

“This is not the moment to divide the party, and the support behind Trump — and I have no reason to believe he won’t run again — is so incredibly strong,” Suarez said.

Instead, Suarez outlined a scenario where Trump runs and wins the White House in 2024, with DeSantis running the next cycle.

“I fully expect to one day vote for DeSantis to be president — I just don’t know if it’s in 2024,” he said. “I do think DeSantis has the potential to be the president of the United States, biblically speaking, ‘in due season.’”

But Butler and Griffith agreed that Trump may have reasons to be concerned if DeSantis decides to jump in earlier.

“What DeSantis has that Trump doesn’t have is an appeal to ‘positive family values,’” Griffith said, referring to a phrase long common in conservative Christian politics. “He’s a family man, he doesn’t have all this divorce in his past, he doesn’t have women, to my knowledge, suing him for sexual harassment and rape.”

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