The late Rush Limbaugh would often say of the media: They tell you whom they fear. In light of this Limbaugh truism, the media must fear the rise of Gov. Ron DeSantis after Friday’s hit piece on his wife, Casey DeSantis, in Politico.

Rumors have been flying that Ron DeSantis will declare his candidacy for president on Thursday. So while hardcore Trump supporters will guffaw and point to recent polls showing their man far ahead of the Florida governor, they forget that a poll is merely a snapshot in time. Plus, the primaries haven’t begun, it’s over a year until the party conventions, and DeSantis hasn’t yet declared, either.

But the media also know that Ron DeSantis is a popular governor, having won his re-election with over 59% of the votes. They also know of his impressive record of accomplishment in Florida. Plus, they are aware that he could attract not only rank-and-file Republicans, but also independents for whom Donald Trump is a turn-off.

So Politico attempted a flank attack on Ron DeSantis by writing a hit piece on his wife.

The Hits on Casey DeSantis

Casey DeSantis is a 42-year-old mother of three, a former Florida TV personality, and a breast cancer survivor. She is also lovely in appearance and handles herself well in public. Shortly before the gubernatorial election in November, 2022, Casey released an ad touting her husband which was well-received by many on social media.

Normally the media would be gushing all over such a woman. She’s a cancer survivor! She’s a mom! What’s not to love?

Ah, but the “D” in Casey’s name stands for DeSantis and not Democrat. So Politico interviewed Democrat strategists and alleged former staffers who were more than happy to dish dirt.

Take, for example, these comments from “anonymous” staffers:

He’s a leader who makes political decisions with the assistance of his wife, who was elected by nobody, who’s blindly ambitious. And she sees ghosts in every corner.

She’s more paranoid than he is.

He’s a vindictive motherfucker. She’s twice that. She’s the scorekeeper.

Is this a serious piece? Or the brain droppings of mean girls on social media?

Other Knives Out for Casey DeSantis

It’s not only nameless, alleged staffers who are out to shiv Casey DeSantis. There’s Trump loyalist Roger Stone, who not only despises Ron DeSantis but Casey as well. Stone said in the UK Telegram last fall:

Have you ever noticed how much Ron DeSantis’ wife Casey is like Lady Macbeth?

Yeah, that Roger Stone. The same guy whom Politico reported in 2021 was in arrears to the IRS for $2 million. But now he’s useful to them in their smearing of Casey DeSantis, so it’s all good.

Yet, in November, 2022, Politico opined that comparing women to Lady Macbeth was a “sexist trope.”

Moreover, Ben Domenech, editor for The Spectator, tweeted:

I’m asking this question without judgment: Have you actually read Macbeth?

Other sources for Politico included David Jolly, an ex-Republican representative from FL who is now an MSNBC analyst, and Mac Stipanovich, who worked in Republican politics decades ago but is now a vocal Democrat. Stipanovich, who once worked for Jeb Bush, said he’d “rather have teeth pulled without anesthetic than be on a boat with Ron DeSantis.”

The piece also included a brief quote from Lincoln Project founder Rick Wilson, who also despises Ron DeSantis. “Never cross Casey,” he warned. Another LP founder Reed Galen also promoted the hit piece at Twitter as a “Must read.” 

Meanwhile, Ross Douthat, conservative pundit for the New York Times, responded to Galen:

The fascinating arc of history in which the founder of a “NeverTrump” organization is touting a piece about Casey DeSantis organized around a Lady MacBeth analogy that’s based on a quote from, um, Roger Stone.

Even Joan Walsh, writer for the far-left The Nation, found the hit piece on Casey DeSantis to be over-the-top. She loathes both the governor and his wife, and yet still wrote:

 … this Politico piece feels different. Naked in its sexism while insisting that it’s in fact giving the woman in question agency, credit, attention.

In addition, Mediaite author Isaac Schorr wrote this about the piece:

If the closest you can get to a someone’s inner circle is his avowed rivals, it’s not a story you have, it’s a press release.

Political Wives from Hell

Does Casey DeSantis want to become First Lady? I have no doubt. And when her husband announces his bid for the presidency sometime next week, she’ll be at his side. According to Politico, after all, “they were partners from the start.”

And that’s a bad thing? When my late father once told me that my husband and I were “a team,” I took that as a compliment.

But if you want political wives from hell, then consider the wife of John Fetterman, the junior senator from Pennsylvania. Fetterman can barely express himself due to a severe stroke he suffered in May, 2022. Yet his wife, the execrable Gisele Fetterman, just had to move up from being 2nd Lady of Pennsylvania to digs in Washington, DC, as a senator’s wife. The hell with her husband’s health.

Governor Tom Wolf/flickr/CC BY 2.0.

However, the queen bee of this sordid duo must be Jill Biden.

She is “all in” for her husband’s run for the presidency. Never mind that if he were to win, he’d be 86 if he survived his second term. Moreover, Joe Biden has had multiple falls, innumerable verbal gaffes, and flashes of inappropriate anger. That’s in addition to a history of two brain aneurysms and a current heart condition. Several doctors have also expressed concern about his cognitive decline.

Geriatric specialist Dr. Elena Mucci said in an interview:

If I was his geriatrician, I would discourage him from campaigning. I’d strongly advocate against it.

But Jill Biden is “all in” for trotting her ailing husband out to win another term in what may be the world’s most challenging job. The hell with her husband. The hell with the country. She loves being First Lady.

Move over, Hillary Clinton. Jill Biden may be the Worst Woman in America.

And Casey DeSantis? She is hardly comparable to either of those political wives from hell. Her husband is young, healthy, and ready to run.

However, that’s the problem for liberal outlets like Politico. They tell you whom they fear. They fear Ron DeSantis, so they took a swipe at the low-hanging fruit in his sphere: his wife, mother of his children, and breast cancer survivor.

Welcome, Instapundit readers! 

Featured image: State of Florida, office of the governor/cropped/public domain.