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DeSantis Fatigue & G.O.P. Grief Therapy

After another flaccid debate, Republican operatives and donors are privately expressing what they can’t yet state openly: the 2024 race is probably over, the debates aren’t moving the needle, and Glenn Youngkin won’t either.

Ron DeSantis improving upon his stilted performance from the first debate, but on the whole he has unperformed.
Ron DeSantis improving upon his stilted performance from the first debate, but on the whole he has unperformed. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Tara Palmeri
September 29, 2023

The remaindered class of the Republican presidential field was in survival mode last night in Simi Valley, where seven candidates took the stage at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to make their case, however weakly, against Donald Trump. They were visibly feral from the start, thirsty for airtime, stomping all over each other for a breakout moment, or a fight, whichever presented itself first.