Swamp Monsters: Trump vs. DeSantis, the Greatest Show on Earth (or at Least in Florida)

Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s efforts to become the new Donald Trump have set him at daggers drawn with the old one, according to this rollicking debut study of cutthroat Republican politics. NBC News reporter Dixon recounts DeSantis’s career as a Republican congressman and his 2018 election to the governor’s office thanks in part to an eagerly sought endorsement from Trump. Much of the book explores DeSantis’s subsequent courting of Trump’s MAGA base with right-wing populist initiatives in Florida. For example, he largely eschewed Covid public safety measures, and championed laws that banned or cracked down on drag shows, gender-affirming care for youth, and schools teaching LGBTQ issues or material that makes students “feel guilt” about the past. These policies, and his triumphant 2022 reelection, made DeSantis a Republican star and initially Trump’s chief rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Dixon narrates a lively blow-by-blow of that battle to date, with Trump landing most of the blows—including false allegations of sexual improprieties and the coining of the nickname “Meatball Ron.” In Dixon’s well-observed and cutting assessment, DeSantis is “a charmless battering ram” with a “nasally, whiny” voice and a “weird” demeanor. It’s a shrewd and entertaining portrait of MAGA Republicanism. (Jan.)