doomed

Ron DeSantis’ donors & supporters are ripping him to shreds to seemingly anybody who will listen

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Ron DeSantis wearing a black suit jacket, white shirt and red tie with white dots.

Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign may be finished before it even begins. Multiple Republican donors and party insiders have expressed trepidation about the Florida governor’s chances on the national stage, especially in the wake of him getting trolled by Disney.

The Washington Post came out with a story Wednesday that quotes one DeSantis supporter summarizing his troubles as such: “He doesn’t like talking to people, and it’s showing.”

That doesn’t seem ideal!

DeSantis won reelection by nearly 20 points in November, solidifying himself as a potential successor to Donald Trump. In the months leading up to last November’s election, DeSantis took a hard turn to the right, often targeting the LGBTQ+ community. He signed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which prohibits teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through grade 3, and enacted a transgender athlete ban.

On Wednesday, Florida expanded “Don’t Say Gay” to cover all grade levels. Since the turn of the new year, DeSantis’ positions on LGBTQ+ issues and women’s reproductive rights have only gotten more extreme.

In February, the Florida board of medicine outlawed gender-affirming care for trans minors. A bill recently passed the Florida House that would make it a felony to provide transgender-affirming care to minors, and a law restricting drag shows seems to be on the way.

For good measure, DeSantis also signed a six-week abortion ban.

Related:

These pics of a young Ron DeSantis sparked a war on Gay Twitter™

For the love of god, stop thirsting over fascists.

But the ambitious governor may be leaning too hard into the culture wars–even for GOP mega donors. One of them, Thomas Peterffy, told the Financial Times that DeSantis’ views on “abortion and book banning” have caused him to pull his financial support.

Rolling Stone also recently obtained screenshots from a group chat between several DeSantis donors, and the comments aren’t very flattering.

“What the f*** is wrong with RD?,” asked one of them.

Another one said DeSantis is a “damn wimp” for his refusal to strike back at Trump, who’s taken to insulting the governor on a regular basis.

Most recently, Trump ripped DeSantis for his ongoing feud against Disney.

Earlier this year, DeSantis stripped Disney World of its self-governing power, only for Disney’s board to sidestep the ruling. DeSantis now says Florida will override Disney’s attempts to avoid more state oversight.

New Hampshire Republican governor Chris Sununu said recently DeSantis’ war against Disney “convolutes the entire Republican message.”

In what’s probably a pure coincidence, Disney announced this week it will host a special “Pride Nite” this June at its California theme park.

Meanwhile, Floridians were awoken at 4:00 am Thursday to an emergency alert that was sent in error.

DeSantis isn’t expected to announce his presidential intentions until after the current legislative session ends in May. But polls already show Trump extending his lead.

At this rate, DeSantis may wind up look back on stories about him eating pudding with his hands as the peak of his quixotic presidential run.

Scroll down for more reaction to DeSantis’ woes…

Related:

Tennis legend Billie Jean King has alarming news for Ron DeSantis: “He probably has gay kids in his family”

“He’ll say he doesn’t probably, but I bet he does. Most people have gay relatives, even if they don’t know it.”

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