Why GOP candidates are piling on DeSantis — not Trump

There’s a huge target on the back of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) as he enters the 2024 Republican presidential primary, even though he’s trailing the GOP-favored front-runner.  

While former President Trump is maintaining a commanding, at times double-digit lead in national polls of GOP primary voters, DeSantis has drawn intense criticism from Trump and other contenders, such as former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Candidates who are hoping to overtake Trump likely will need to peel off a swath of DeSantis’s voters to build their winning coalition, strategists said. 

“He’ll be taking flack from both the front-runner and the lower-tier candidates,” said Alex Conant, who worked on Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) 2016 presidential campaign. 

There is the possibility some candidates are vying for a spot on the ticket with Trump should he win the nomination, or aiming for a Cabinet position in a second Trump administration, though no one running for president would openly admit to doing so.

“Each candidate has their own motives,” Conant said, adding that anyone who wants to beat Trump will eventually have to run against him.