TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) 鈥 Jim McKee is standing at the end of a line that snakes through five aisles of fiction inside the Books-A-Million store in Florida鈥檚 capital city.
He is smiling because in a matter of minutes, the book he鈥檚 holding will be signed by its author, , the Republican governor who McKee believes should be the nation鈥檚 next president. But as a former Donald Trump loyalist, the 44-year-old Tallahassee attorney almost whispers when he first says it out loud.
鈥淧ersonally, I鈥檇 rather see DeSantis win the Republican primary than Trump,鈥 McKee says softly, having to repeat himself to be heard. His voice soon grows louder.
鈥淭rump has upset so many people,鈥 McKee says. 鈥淒eSantis is more palatable. He has a good story to tell.鈥
Indeed, conversations throughout Tallahassee鈥檚 book stores, conference rooms, state house offices and sports bars reveal that 顿别厂补苍迟颈蝉鈥 allies are gaining confidence as . The former president over his role in a hush money scheme during the 2016 campaign to prevent porn actor Stormy Daniels from going public about an extramarital sexual encounter, which he denies.
The optimism around DeSantis comes even as an unlikely collection of establishment-minded Republican officials and Make America Great Again influencers raise concerns about the Florida governor鈥檚 readiness for the national stage. DeSantis has stumbled at times under the weight of intensifying national scrutiny as he builds out his political organization and introduces himself to voters in key primary states.
DeSantis' allies privately scoffed at recent reports of anonymous concerns over the direction of his campaign, noting there is no campaign. The 44-year-old governor for at least two more months. And the first presidential primary contest is roughly 10 months away.
For now, 顿别厂补苍迟颈蝉鈥 team, headquartered here on the front edge of Florida鈥檚 Panhandle, believes he holds a position of strength among Republican voters. And as Trump fights to undermine DeSantis, his strongest Republican rival, the Florida governor鈥檚 growing coalition is eager to highlight the contrast between the two men.
On one side stands Trump, a twice-impeached former president into the 2024 presidential contest. On the other is DeSantis, a big-state governor coming off a commanding reelection, who is a far more disciplined messenger and hyperfocused on enacting conservative policies.
鈥淥f all the things that Donald Trump has done and accomplished in his life, it鈥檚 just constant chaos. And I think the American people are just tired of it,鈥 said Florida state Rep. Spencer Roach, a former Trump supporter who thinks DeSantis would be 鈥渁 very formidable presidential candidate.鈥
Most voters have only just begun to analyze the differences between the dueling Republican stars as the 2024 presidential election season opens under a cloud of unprecedented scandal.
A former president has never been arrested, but prosecutors in New York, Georgia and Washington are leading criminal probes of Trump鈥檚 behavior on multiple fronts that could potentially produce indictments in the coming days, weeks or months.
The politics are murky at best.
Should Trump be charged, DeSantis supporters concede that Trump would likely benefit politically 鈥 in the short term, at least 鈥 as the GOP base rushes to defend their former leader from what they see as a weaponized justice system. But in the long term, 顿别厂补苍迟颈蝉鈥 team believes primary voters will view Trump鈥檚 legal challenges as an acute reminder of his extraordinary baggage that could lead to another Republican disappointment in 2024.
Meanwhile, Trump is using his mounting legal challenges as a cudgel to force Republican rivals to line up the GOP behind him. It's the same playbook he employed successfully last summer after the FBI raided his Florida estate to seize classified documents and during special counsel Robert Mueller鈥檚 Russia investigation.
DeSantis condemned the New York prosecutor's potential indictment over the last week under intense pressure from MAGA influencers and after other White House prospects had offered their own criticism.
鈥淚 hope it doesn鈥檛 come to where you end up seeing this going forward,鈥 DeSantis said in an interview with Piers Morgan, without mentioning Trump by name. 鈥淧eople see that as weaponizing the justice system. So I think it鈥檚 fundamentally wrong to do that."
And while DeSantis sprinkled a few jabs at Trump and his leadership style throughout the same interview, such remarks are mild in comparison to Trump鈥檚 scorched-earth broadsides against him.
Last week alone, the former president seized on 顿别厂补苍迟颈蝉鈥 votes as a congressman to cut Social Security and Medicare and attacked his record as Florida governor on violent crime, public health and education. Trump also shared a photo suggesting impropriety when DeSantis was a teacher two decades ago, despite no evidence of that.
At a , Trump said DeSantis was 鈥渄ropping like a rock.鈥
In an effort to combat the perception that his numbers might be slipping, 顿别厂补苍迟颈蝉鈥 allies quietly distributed polling conducted last week in Iowa and New Hampshire by the Republican firm Public Opinion Strategies that suggests vulnerability for Trump.
Meanwhile, DeSantis is only just beginning to navigate the intense national scrutiny that comes with being a top-tier presidential prospect.
顿别厂补苍迟颈蝉鈥 鈥 a statement he has 鈥 sowed doubt among some would-be supporters about whether he鈥檚 ready for prime time. There are also consistent concerns that he doesn鈥檛 have the charisma necessary to connect with voters on a personal level.
鈥淚 have heard that there is concern out there that he doesn鈥檛 have the ability to go the distance because of his interpersonal skills,鈥 said New York-based Republican donor Eric Levine, a fierce Trump critic. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 a race between him and Trump, I鈥檓 a Ron DeSantis guy. But I don鈥檛 know if I鈥檓 with either of them right now.鈥
At Thursday鈥檚 book signing in Tallahassee, the Florida governor made little effort to speak to people who had waited in the long line 鈥 aside from an obligatory 鈥淗ey, how are you?鈥 鈥 as he signed their books. Most of the one-on-one interactions were silent and spanned less than 10 seconds as he scribbled his name on the inside cover.
DeSantis' staff wouldn't allow pictures.
At the same event, DeSantis did not answer when asked by an Associated Press reporter whether Trump was being treated fairly by prosecutors.
His decision to ignore the mainstream press, just as he often ignores Trump's attacks, is not new. In fact, his allies praise the approach as an example of the discipline that makes him a better presidential contender than Trump.
Yet it carries risks.
By not engaging more directly with the former president in particular, DeSantis is adopting a similar playbook as Trump鈥檚 2016 Republican rivals 鈥 including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz 鈥 who ignored Trump for much of that campaign. Each ultimately went on the attack more directly, but by that time, Trump had built an insurmountable lead.
鈥淒eSantis will not shrink from the fight. That鈥檚 not how he鈥檚 operated in Florida politics to this point,鈥 said Matt Caldwell, a former state representative who shared the statewide ballot with DeSantis in 2018 as a candidate for state agriculture commissioner. 鈥淥ne could argue that he鈥檚 got the upper hand, so he鈥檚 only engaging when he has to.鈥
Instead of 2016, Caldwell likened Trump鈥檚 challenges in 2024 to the 1996 presidential election when President Bill Clinton faced serious allegations of sexual impropriety that nearly sank his reelection.
鈥淎t end of the day, this is just a hubbub about money and sex, which isn鈥檛 a whole lot different from 1996,鈥 Caldwell said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 like this, and I didn鈥檛 like 鈥96. But Bill Clinton won reelection.鈥
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Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in Waco, Texas, contributed to this report.
