Roger Stone’s Latest, Tasteless, Blast at DeSantis Represents Trump’s Increasing Insecurity

Last updated on September 25th, 2023 at 02:53 pm

Admittedly, Roger Stone doesn’t have anything important to say about anything outside of the two to three paragraphs about the secrets he keeps regarding what Trump might’ve known regarding Wikileaks and Russia in 2016 and perhaps another two to three about what Trump knew leading up to January 6th. Other than that, Stone has almost nothing to contribute to society.

So why bring up this statement?

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Because it’s a tiny slice demonstrative of the increasing divide between Trump and DeSantis, which is part of a larger divide between Trump and McConnell, Trump and Meadows, and even Trump and McCarthy. Trump is losing friends fast, at least the powerful ones, the ones that could protect him. The clearest indication that Trump’s power may be waning is Trump’s insecurity regarding DeSantis’s rise.

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times published a piece last night entitled Who is King of Florida? Tensions Rise Between Trump and a Former Acolyte. The article’s insight focuses primarily upon Trump wanting an “open field” to run in 2024:

Gov. Ron DeSantis, a man Mr. Trump believes he put on the map, has been acting far less like an acolyte and more like a future competitor, Mr. Trump complains. With his stock rising fast in the party, the governor has conspicuously refrained from saying he would stand aside if Mr. Trump runs for the Republican nomination for president in 2024.

“The magic words,” Trump has said to several associates and advisers.

Obviously, DeSantis might be Trump’s primary focus as he looks ahead politically, but the gulf is widening between Trump and many of the people listed above, some of which could play a much larger role in whether Trump is even available to run in 2024.

It was just a month ago that McConnell actually answered a question about the Select Committee’s work, just as it really picked up steam. The master of the “no comment,” said:

“We are all watching, as you are, what is unfolding on the House side and it will be interesting to reveal all of the participants who were involved,” 

The comment came after Trump blasted McConnell for making a deal with Joe Biden on the debt ceiling. Trump should be worried about the fact that McConnell didn’t write the committee off as a partisan witch hunt. McConnell did the opposite, he gave the investigation serious legitimacy, which every Democrat should hope is a bigger problem for Trump than anything DeSantis might say.

Kevin McCarthy now says he won’t cooperate with the Select Committee only days after appearing to consider the option. The fact that McCarthy even gave pause in saying, “NO,” might mean something.

Senator Mike Rounds from South Dakota expressly stated that Trump lost the 2020 election fair and square without apology, earning a ferocious response from Trump, disavowing Rounds forever. And yet Rounds received some unexpected support. From the AP.

Rounds got backup after Trump’s attack from several high-profile Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and fellow South Dakotan Sen. John Thune, who has had his own run-ins with Trump. But with the GOP still largely in the former president’s grip, it’s not clear whether Rounds’ defiance represents a slip in that grasp or whether he’s a lonely voice in the party.

This entire article is meant to show that Round’s voice is “less” lonely.

So let’s get back to Stone. Stone represents the type of people who will be speaking for Trump against the type of people who seem to be wanting to keep their distance from Trump and the gulf is widening.

Trump fears DeSantis and is angry with DeSantis, and Stone comes forward. Trump is angry with McConnell and fears losing control of the party and Lindsey Graham comes forward. When Kevin McCarthy wavered, it was Marjorie Taylor-Greene and Matt Gaetz that came forward. There was a noticeable lack of “power players” at Trump’s Arizona rally, very few came forward.

One writes about Trump’s waning power at one’s own peril. But when Roger Stone is out viciously slamming DeSantis – a man considered to be one of the top MAGA leaders, it is almost impossible to not notice that the power in the GOP continues to slowly back away from Trump, at a barely noticeable, but very real pace.

Jason Miciak

@JasonMiciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, and currently studies philosophy of science, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact with any concerns.