On Monday’s editions of ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today, the two gleefully ripped Governor and 2024 GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (R-FL) despite his completion of the “Full Grassley” (visiting Iowa’s 99 counties) over the weekend by mocking his “losing” bid and “problems...mounting” with “tensions” at fever pitch as former President Trump continues to “stomp” him.
Good Morning America (GMA) was, of course, the most gleeful given its place as chief corporate shill for parent company Disney and prostituting itself for all things Disney theme parks (such as here). In other words, why wouldn’t Disney sic its top AM news show on a man who’s waged a successful war embarrassing Disney?
Better yet, this came at the same time a scathing state audit came out about Disney and the special governance and tax district created to oversee DisneyWorld, Reedy Creek.
Senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott proclaimed that DeSantis’s 99 counties accomplishment meant nothing because “he’s losing ground to Nikki Haley and he’s still far behind Donald Trump.”
“The problems are mounting for the Florida governor. Tensions running high within his super PAC, now moving on to its third CEO in two weeks. And DeSantis is on the attack, as he loses ground to former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley,” Scott excitedly added.
Scott pivoted to basking in the candidate they actually want (click “expand”):
SCOTT: Still, Donald Trump is the clear front-runner, mocking his rivals at a rally this weekend.
DONALD TRUMP: We hit them very hard. And he’s — he’s falling out of the air like a very seriously wounded bird — right — to the ground.
SCOTT: The former President campaigning on a promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare.
TRUMP: ObamaCare is a disaster. And I said, we’re — we’re going to do something about it.
SCOTT: DeSantis blasting Trump for not getting it done when he was at the White House.
DESANTIS: That was a big failure, obviously, under the Trump administration. That was a core promise that didn’t happen.
SCOTT: Trump wants to repeal ObamaCare. DeSantis said that he wants to replace it. But neither providing any specific details on what their health care plans would be[.]
Only at the end did Scott and co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos bring up the fact that “the political calendar is vying with the legal calendar” for Trump with the latest blow coming thanks to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan saying he isn’t immune from prosecution over his post-2020 conduct.
NBC’s Today had co-host Savannah Guthrie teeing up senior Washington correspondent Hallie Jackson: “You’ve got Donald Trump still far and away the frontrunner [in Iowa]. DeSantis running that kind of traditional Iowa campaign and Nikki Haley showing a little bit of momentum.”
Jackson conceded that DeSantis completing the 99-counties tour was “symbolically kind of a big deal” and that he’s “committed” to Iowans, but argued “the numbers just aren’t there for him right now” with NBC’s new poll showing “Trump...dominantly leading in Iowa.”
She continued: “I mean, this is a stomp, Savannah. You can see it. 45 percent there. And Nikki Haley is surging also. She is now effectively tied with Ron DeSantis in the state of Iowa.”
The ladies also dismissed the necessity of Wednesday’s GOP debate on NewsNation and the CW with Guthrie questioning whether it’s even “relevant.”
Jackson replied the real topic should be “Trump...turning his attention toward the general election”, remarks about Biden being the real danger to democracy and Trump being “like a wounded bird,” and that Wednesday will mark a big Trump fundraiser.
“[I]s it relevant? The ratings have dropped for all of these Republican debates so far. We’ll see, bottom line, though, we are getting closer with Iowa creeping up quick,” she concluded.
To see the relevant transcripts from December 4, click here (for ABC) and here (for CBS).
