DeSantis steps into spotlight after Trump assassination attempt

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is taking on a front-and-center role in the response to the second assassination attempt against former President Trump, catapulting him back onto the national political stage. 

DeSantis announced on Tuesday that the state would open their own criminal investigation into the latest attempt on Trump’s life, in which a man was arrested after allegedly stalking the former president with a rifle in Florida. The probe will run concurrent to the federal investigation into the incident. 

It’s not abnormal for states to launch their own investigations alongside federal probes, but the development comes as DeSantis stands to play a key role in the general election in Florida and looks to keep his profile high as he charts the course of his political future. 

“It is part of his job, but it also endears him to the Republican base because this is the party of Donald John Trump,” said Ford O’Connell, a Florida-based Republican strategist.  

Trump’s supporters and conservatives have grown increasingly weary with the federal government’s response to attempted acts of violence against Trump, pointing to the fact that the second incident happened less than two months after Trump was shot and nearly killed at a rally in Pennsylvania.  

"When it comes to the investigations though, I think there’s been a clear divide and a real uncertainty, certainly with conservatives, in terms of their feelings of the federal government to properly investigate itself in many respects,” said one GOP strategist.  

DeSantis echoed this sentiment on Tuesday when he formally announced the state investigation. 

“In my judgment, it’s not in the best interest of our state or our nation to have the same federal agencies that are seeking to prosecute Donald Trump leading this investigation, especially when the most serious, straightforward offense constitutes a violation of state law but not federal law,” the governor said.  

Republicans stress that DeSantis’s investigation into the matter is not political in nature. But the national response to the assassination attempt has become political as Republicans lay blame at the feet of Democrats for their rhetoric toward Trump. Democrats, including Trump’s opponent Vice President Harris, have said there is no place for political violence.  

DeSantis’s investigation into the assassination attempt on Trump is the latest development in a tumultuous relationship between the governor and the former president. DeSantis closely tied himself to Trump during his gubernatorial runs, only to garner Trump’s wrath when he challenged him in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.  

The two have since made amends, with DeSantis pledging to aid Trump in the general election and even getting a speaking slot at the Republican National Convention in July.  

“Gov. DeSantis has been quietly inching closer and closer to Trump’s orbit since dropping out of the primary,” said Dan Eberhart, a Trump donor who supported DeSantis during the GOP primary.  

David Macdonald, professor of American politics at the University of Florida, sees DeSantis’s move as a “smart play.”

At the start of his gubernatorial career, DeSantis branded himself as more of a moderate. But as a relatively young candidate likely seeking another presidential run, positioning himself in alignment with the MAGA wing sets him up as potential heir to Trump.  

“The more I’ve read about him, the more it seems like he positions himself where the Republican Party is,” Macdonald said. “He was a big Tea Party guy and leaned heavily into fiscal conservativism, and in the Trump era has leaned more into culture war conservatism.”  

DeSantis enjoys popularity among Florida voters. A USA Today/Suffolk University/WSVN-TV poll released last month showed DeSantis with a 52 percent approval rating and a 43 percent disapproval rating.  

“The most important thing for [DeSantis] to do is continue to lead his state, and I think that is what got him into the national dialogue originally,” the Republican strategist said. “He’s positioning himself for whatever he wants to do in the future.”  

It’s unclear how the latest assassination attempt will play in the general election. The first attempt, which took place when President Biden was the presumptive Democratic nominee, turbocharged an already energized Republican base going into the party’s national nominating convention.  

Some Republicans argue that the latest attempt could endear Trump to undecided swing voters, pointing to what Republicans say was a botched handling of Trump’s security.  

“If you talk about [the assassination attempt], he’s going to win the election,” O’Connell said. “People say to themselves ‘I may not like this guy, but he’s the toughest S.O.B to ever run for president.”  

O’Connell pointed to a Gallup poll out this week that found Trump’s favorability increased from 41 percent to 46 percent over the past month. The poll was conducted from Sept. 3-15, meaning the majority of responses were collected before the second assassination attempt. 

The unnamed GOP strategist noted that the multiple probes into the two assassination attempts coupled with the ultra-polarized will have consequences for both parties.  

“No matter how the election goes, more and more people are going to need protection for longer periods of time,” the strategist said.  

"Until we get that figured out, man there’s going to be lots of uncertainty.”