(ConservativeSense.com) – Republican Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis says the media is against him, and he intends to use that to his advantage. DeSantis spoke after a weekend of negative headlines in major publications, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, which both ran front-page stories claiming his campaign is increasingly troubled.
The Florida Governor told Fox News there is an effort to undermine his White House bid but believes Republican voters know how the press operates and understand the ideological bias of many mainstream outlets. He insists negative coverage will not harm his campaign but is more likely to provide him with a boost.
Speaking of Republican voters, DeSantis said, “They know where these corporate outlets stand on the political spectrum, and so to the extent that they become convinced that the media does not want me to be the nominee, that will in the long run absolutely help me.”
His comments on the media echo those of Donald Trump, who coined the phrase “fake news” to describe the mainstream press and maintained a hostile relationship with many reporters throughout his time at the White House. Millions share Trump’s belief that the media is biased against conservatives. Polls conducted in recent years indicate a total collapse in trust in the press, with 60% in 2020 saying they had “no trust at all.”
Republicans will likely accept Ron DeSantis’s claims that the media can’t be trusted as true, but it could present problems for the Governor as people see him as trying to out-Trump Trump. Journalists increasingly describe DeSantis as a candidate who is emulating Donald Trump as a means of winning over his supporters, and a brawl with the press is likely to strengthen that belief.
DeSantis has also made building a wall on the southern border a primary election focus and went to war with “woke” in what some see as Trump’s territory and one that cannot be dominated by any candidate other than the former President.
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