Ron DeSantis: The Making and Remaking (and Remaking) of a MAGA Heir

On the afternoon of August 19, several hundred conservative activists streamed into the ballroom at the Wyndham Grand hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. The grassroots event was billed as a “Unite and Win” rally for Doug Mastriano, the Donald Trump–backed Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate who was campaigning on Trump’s big lie, that Democrats stole the 2020 election. But Mastriano was only the warm-up act for the headliner, who had drawn me and members of the national press corps to Pennsylvania: Ron DeSantis. The first-term Florida governor strutted onstage in a boxy suit and red tie, flinging white “Ron DeSantis” baseball caps into… Read Full Article