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In November 2022, after his blowout re-election win, Ron DeSantis stood on the precipice of history.
At the time, with other Republicans struggling and the MAGA movement’s viability in doubt, the Florida governor was hailed as something like the post-Trump future of the GOP. No one seemed better positioned to turn the page from Trump than him.
DeSantis took the leap of faith. But 15 months later, after botching his presidential campaign launch, throwing more than a hundred million dollars down the drain, and sustaining ruthless attacks from Trumpworld, it’s brutally clear that DeSantis was on the precipice of a different political fate: hubris.