By Philp Klein
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
A few weeks ago, I wrote that we should expect Donald Trump to begin
attacking Florida governor Ron DeSantis from the left on entitlement reform.
His weekend rantings included some opening volleys.
In one posting on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Ron
DeSanctimonious wants to cut your Social Security and Medicare . . .”
In another he took a shot at the New York Post, Fox
News, and my friend and former colleague Salena Zito, asking, “why doesn’t she
mention that he wants to cut Social Security & Medicare . . .”
When DeSantis is ready to engage on these issues, his
response could help determine the future direction of the Republican Party.
Lately, the party has moved far away from backing reforms to our unsustainable
entitlement programs, claiming that they shouldn’t be touched. Will DeSantis
embrace this trend, and attempt to back away from his past positions on the
need for reform? Or will he stand firm, and argue that absent reform, the
programs won’t be able to deliver the promised benefits anyway?
Also, just a parting note on Trump’s shot at Salena for
supposedly writing a “puff piece.” As somebody who knows Salena well and who
has worked closely with her in the past, I will say the reality is that Salena
is simply not a confrontational-style interviewer. Aside from being exceedingly
kind, Salena likes to provide her subjects the ability to offer their
perspective and tell their stories, rather than preparing for an interview by
trying to come up with the most challenging questions possible. This was true
in her coverage of Trump and his supporters, which subjected her to years of
vicious attacks for being a supposed Trump shill. It’s also, by the way, not a
particularly ideological thing. She takes a similar approach to interviews with
Democrats, such as her recent conversation with Pennsylvania governor Josh
Shapiro. This is to take nothing away from more adversarial journalists who
certainly have an important role to play in holding those in power accountable,
but Salena’s approach can often be revealing and break news, too. Salena was
one of the few reporters who took Trump’s chances seriously early on in the
2016 cycle based on her conversations with voters, so Trump’s swipe is just
more evidence of his being especially thin-skinned.
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