DeSantis’s Fight Against Disney Won’t Help Him Beat Trump

A few months ago, Ron DeSantis was riding high. The Florida governor had just won a landslide re-election, was leading in some Republican presidential primary polls, and appeared to have hit upon a successful way to distinguish himself from Donald Trump: Give GOP voters a simulacrum of the former president by starting big cultural fights that upset liberals — with Disney, “woke” capitalism, Venezuelan migrants, and so on — but with the implicit assurance he’d have enough self-control not to get impeached or indicted.

As it turns out, however, mimicking Trump isn’t so easy — especially when the original himself is also on the ballot. Instead of trying to match Trump outrage for outrage in the culture wars, DeSantis should emphasize that Trump is no match for him when it comes to the economy.