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Past Legislation Takes Center Stage in DeSantis-Trump Primary Feud

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  May 30, 2023 11:00 PM

The Republican presidential primary is almost certainly going to come down to former and potentially future President Donald Trump and Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump leads by over 30 points, and nobody else but DeSantis has support in the double digits. Amidst the petty squabbling also comes debates on legislation that Trump and DeSantis supported, or didn't support, especially during Trump's time as president. 

DeSantis' opposition to the First Step Act that Trump signed into law in December 2018, which DeSantis calls the "jailbreak" bill, is back in the news. As Sarah highlighted last week, shortly after DeSantis officially launched his campaign, DeSantis spoke with Ben Shapiro about the bill which he denounced and pledged he would go to Congress to repeal the bill as one of his first acts as president if elected. 

Axios has reached out to the Trump campaign about the legislation, and Alex Thompson, a national political correspondent for the outlet, tweeted out last week clarification to a point made by Trump's people that DeSantis voted for the bill. He voted for an earlier version, as did most Republicans, but he wasn't even in Congress for the final vote. 

DeSantis began serving in Congress in 2013, representing Florida's 6th congressional district until he resigned in September 2018 to run for governor. He had been endorsed by Trump for his run for governor in December  2017.

On Tuesday, Thompson further delved into how "DeSantis hits Trump from the right on crime," which explained those numbers in further detail as well, including how "On the final version of the bill, 34 Republicans changed their votes from from 'yes' to 'no.' While 57 Democrats voted against the bill in May, zero voted 'no' in December."

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"Asked whether Trump still supports the bill or if there are any parts he would change, the Trump campaign did not respond," Thompson noted in his reporting, though Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung went after him nonetheless:

  • Instead, Trump's team issued a statement portraying DeSantis as a flip-flopper because, as a member of Congress, he voted for an earlier version of the bill that had significant differences from the final legislation.
  • “He sounds just like John Kerry. What a phony,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told Axios.

Thompson also mentions the numbers when it comes to quoting one of the 34 Republicans who changed his vote, Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado:

One of those 34 Republicans, Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, told Axios that Trump’s attack was “not only disingenuous, it's dishonest. They were completely two different bills.”

  • Buck, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who has not endorsed any 2024 presidential contender, also said he believes DeSantis has a better record on criminal justice than Trump.
  • "Ron DeSantis has shown in Florida and in his time in Congress, that he understands the causes of crime and can lead and help reduce crime in this country,” he said. “And Donald Trump with this bill, and other signals that he's sent, does not understand crime.

It can't be emphasized enough that Buck hasn't endorsed anyone for president for 2024, which means that this  isn't just some campaign surrogate coming in with an assist for DeSantis. 

Also earning considerable attention is the Trump campaign's framing of DeSantis' vote on an immigration bill, which they claim was DeSantis voting against Trump's wall, while the governor says indicates he voted against amnesty. In a press call from last Wednesday, DeSantis seemed to appreciate the contrast, as he told RealClearPolitics' Phil Wegmann that Trump was actually "drawing, I think helpful contrast with me now."

"He also attacked me for voting against an amnesty bill that he had endorsed–2 million person amnesty bill, Goodlatte 2.0 in 2018. And he said that it was 'voting against the wall,'" DeSantis went on to share. "But if you remember that bill was like a pittance for that in exchange for a massive amnesty. Well, of course, you’re not going to do a massive amnesty. I oppose amnesty. I thought it was supposed to be America First policy to oppose amnesty, and yet he endorsed and tried to ram through an amnesty," he added, criticizing Trump even more deeply. 

On the day of DeSantis' announcement, even in the hours before, the Trump campaign had sought to attack the governor for his stance on immigration. The ad they released accusing DeSantis "voting against funding for Trump’s wall" was hit with context from Community Notes.

Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington also tweeted out a lengthy statement looking to show that "Ron DeSantis Voted For The Exact DACA Bill Over Which He Is Now Attacking President Trump," though Community Notes chimed in again, to show that they were not exact. 

Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who has endorsed DeSantis for president, also chimed in with a quoted retweet that called Harrington's statement "demonstrably false." 

The Never Back Down Super PAC also tweeted out a lengthy thread explaining the differences.

In the hours before DeSantis made his announcement last Wednesday, Ann Coulter authored a column calling Trump out for not just the omnibus, but for his flip-flopping on it since he threatened to veto it as it did not include the border wall. While Coulter is quite vocal about her opposition to Trump, it's worth noting she did include a litany of Trump tweets and headlines from The New York Times about the timeline. 

During that same interview with Shapiro, DeSantis pointed to Trump attacking him on amnesty as a way in which Trump has attacked from the left. "Well, I think it’s interesting because he’s been attacking me by moving left. So this is a different guy than 2015, 2016. He attacked me for opposing an amnesty bill in the Congress. He did support this amnesty, this Goodlatte 2.0, 2 million illegal aliens he wanted to amnesty. I opposed it because that’s what America First principles dictate, that you are opposed to amnesty," he said, sticking to a similar message from last Wednesday's press call. 

To be "attacking... by moving left" is definitely an interesting campaign tactic, especially in a primary, but it's not the first time Trump has gone for such a move, and it likely won't be the last.