As we’ve previously discussed on this site, a tangible difference between Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, is that the Florida Governor, if ever in the position Trump was in during November and December 2020, the Florida Governor likely finds a way to stay in the White House.

As a budding autocrat who takes after Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, DeSantis almost certainly saw January 6 as the culmination of a failed, but important dress rehearsal for what he has planned should he ever be in the position – and chances are if he is in that position, he won’t need a January 6 type event to maintain power. He’s far too savvy, disciplined and understanding of the US constitution to so clumsily act in trying to hold power. And he’s already given us a clue of how he’d accomplish it.

On the first anniversary of January 6 DeSantis said the following:

“It’s an insult to people when you say it’s an insurrection, and then a year later, nobody has been charged with that (crime),” DeSantis said. “People are being charged with disrupting proceedings or (things like) that. I think it’s very important that if this is what you said it was, why are you not charging people? So, I think it’s going to end up being just a politicized Charlie Foxtrot today.”

Ron DeSantis January 6, 2022

DeSantis in mid-November 2020 laid out his view of Presidential elections in the United States:

“Under Article II of the Constitution, presidential electors are done by the legislators and schemes they create and the framework. If there’s a departure from this, if they depart from the law or are not following the law, then they can provide remedies as well.”

So what DeSantis would do is ensure every state with a GOP majority in its legislature appoints electors SPECIFICALLY committed to voting for him. Legally, this can be done under the constitution and the fact remains the Democrats have inexplicably made no attempt to reform the Electoral Count Act of 1887 (we can speculate on the reasons why, whether self-sabotage or something else, but not today) . So whether DeSantis wins the popular vote nationally or even the *projected* electoral college based on winning pluralities in individual states will not matter. If DeSantis runs for President and is nominated by the GOP he will likely be President.

FWIW, so far, 76 Floridians have been arrested in connection with the events of January 6, 2021, the highest number of people out of any state in the country. This is the culture that has been facilitated and encouraged by Governor DeSantis.

And even though he may never allow things to get to a January 6 because he would have legally “stolen” an election in early December, DeSantis has used Trump’s “big lie” to further consolidate his power. Earlier this year, DeSantis created an authoritarian election police force to crack down on nearly non-existent voter fraud, intimidate voters, and create further barriers to voting for communities that oppose him.

Meanwhile, January 6 stars, the Proud Boys have been seen attending high-dollar DeSantis fundraisers as part of the ongoing efforts to consolidate power in the Miami-Dade Republican Party. 

So in short, DeSantis has taken advantage of January 6 while laying out plans to ensure he’d not need an insurrection to obtain and hold power.

Be scared, very scared.