Trump or DeSantis, if you had to choose?

@mrbojangles25: DeSantis is actually the more dangerous of the two. Trump is incompetent. I would not vote for either. I refuse to vote for anti democracy terrorists.

I don’t vote for traitors and fascists, so no way. I can’t believe anyone would be dumb enough to vote for either.

I choose Satan, the Dark Lord. At least the devil is openly evil.

@InEMplease: Mammon in party form isn't that far off.

A good policy!

But do you think he is as corrupt and self-serving as Trump? I mean, I'm sure he is both to a degree...but to the same extent as Trump?

Had to look that up, pretty much sums up current-era capitalism.

Good to know I have a name for that now.

Yes I think he'd do anything for power as well.

It's the, "Would you rather be shot or poisoned?" question all over again.

I'm going to give this to DeSantis, but just barely. At the end of the day, he seems to have some intrest in, and ability to govern. For Trump, governing was an inconvenience he had to put up with between pep rallys.

And yes, you could argue that makes DeSantis worse, but like I said, this is a very close race.

If I were pressed to choose, easily DeSantis.

Trump turned me into a single-issue voter after his post election shenanigans and Jan 6th. I’ve lived through a few presidencies in my time as everyone here has, and as a centrist who tends to lean slightly left, while I’ve agreed with both democrats and republicans alike, never before Trump have I seen such utter contempt and disregard for democratic norms as he showed, and continues to show.

I will never understand how anyone who would think themselves American and cares for what America stands for would even ever humor Trump. Not only do I not believe him qualified for president, I consider him an existential threat to our republic given the disdain that he has shown for our Constitution and democracy.

Neither. But if I had to choose, Trump, out of hopes he'd be removed from office quicker before he could do more damage.

@judaspete: I think you could make the case about interest in governing until about 12 months ago. Desantis is burning that reputation to the ground with the Disney tiff over "wokeness."

He's not really the competent Trump anymore.

Wokeness which can actually not be defined by anyone complaining about it. The problem with trying to emulate idiots is you become an idiot. DeShitstain is a perfect example.

I think that for me to choose trump, the rival would have to be Maduro, Chávez, Stalin or someone like them.

Trump

Best president in my lifetime.

Maybe in opposite world.

@InEMplease: Funny how he considers a guy who left office with a recession, $8 trillion in spending, and 3 million fewer jobs than when he took office the “best in his lifetime”. 🤦‍♂️

yeah.

i know multi pleple that where right leaning and voting. after jan 6 they all left the party.

Good thing it's not going to happen, lol.

@tjandmia: The asshole is literally running for president to stay out of jail.

@firedrakes: January 6 i am sure changed the minds of many, but it goes beyond that.

the issue is that, If you are more right leaning on economical issues, but you don't care for the cultural war phenomenon, and are looking for a president that would actually be fiscally conservative and pro business, while largely staying away from social topics, then you no longer have a choice.

Trump has been extremely fiscally unconservative and frequently takes advantage of cultural wars to increase his popularity.

And despite financing the military quite well, he has a tendency of lacking assertiveness when facing Russia, north Korea and defending American world order (though he was quite strong when imposing tariffs on china and was validated when Biden did not remove them)

For me January 6 just served as a last straw, but centre right Americans had been lacking a good option for a while.

Drumpf is a spineless worm. His mouth is at least 100x bigger than his brain, and anyone paying attention should be able to see that.

both of you are right!

i been around long enough to see . what ever the righ tis now. is past toxic . to out right dangerous.

No

Nope!

Nope!

But Trump would do less damage. Trump's not capable of ruining the country like DeSantis would. Trump will just do whatever gets him praise. DeSantis, however, has both the will, and strength to ruin the country.

He made it okay for his supporters to show their hate rather than hide it. That's what they like about him.

Yep which is why DeSantis is actually more dangerous.

Damn man. IF i had to choose between, I'd choose Trump :(

Desantis is way more capable of successfully completing evil tasks than Trump. Trump can't get out of his own way sometimes (most of the time). Desantis is more strategic.

My adult life has consisted of Bush Jr, Obama, Trump, and Biden.

I just don't understand how there are any GOP voters left. I mean, popularity-wise, they would get creamed now so I guess they are a dying breed, so that's a relief. But as we don't determine the president that way I guess it's a moot point.

And yeah, I am more worried about Trump and his supporters than I am of ISIS, the economy, and whether or not I will be able to afford a home before I turn 50.

For all his faults, at least DeSantis has shown himself to respect and operate within the boundaries of democratic norms. How could DeSantis do more harm than Trump, who doesn't? Who has shown himself contemptuous of them, and who pushed our country to the breaking point as was shown by Jan 6th and all his efforts leading up to it? Why are we pretending after what he attempted at the end of his first term that he will innocuously abide the restraints in place, and govern only to seek praise and adulation? If Trump regains power, he will be emboldened and push even harder after getting away with the 6th. He will try to install sycophantic loyalists in crucial positions, implement policies that will weaken our democracy from within, and do everything in his power to consolidate the power he so desperately craves.

Disagreeing with policy or ideology is one thing, but to say just because someone would be more effective at implementing it would "ruin" the country above someone who has literally shown such disdain and disregard for those norms to the extent they'd try to undermine our electoral system and destroy our democracy, as he did, is just nonsense. Trump is FAR more dangerous a person to hand the reigns of power to, especially after his behavior post-election.

@MirkoS77: exactly, desantis has not called fraud in any lost elections. Trump has done that every time he has lost.

He skirted that issue and did not denounce it. Also he arrested people that were told by his government they could vote, for voting last year. He's no champion of democracy.

Trump. DeSantis doesn’t have the gumption or boldness that Trump has, but DeSantis is still pretty good.

All three of you have made excellent points, particularly Mirko in the post I didn't quote (response #28) and I keep coming back to this topic considering the best way to answer in an intelligent way. I think the real problem is both Trump and Desantis are incredibly unintelligent choices for the top position of government in a myriad of horrible reasons for both persons. Despite that, we are almost certainly going to have one of them at the top of the ticket for 2024 and that really sucks.

Trump's going to get the nomination.

Most likely will beat Biden in 2024 after seeing his lame duck 4 years.

Just going to have to deal with it.

Your prediction aside, I'm not sure you understand what lame duck really means.

@Serraph105: Biden sucks and will be replaced by Trump in 2024.

You're quite the comedian.

I'll be saving this for later.

please do

DeSantis Because I think he's more competent and has less baggage. The left will cry regardless.

@sargentd: Thank you for saying 'please'. I enjoy good manners.