In a recent article titled “Casey DeSantis Is the Walmart Melania,” Daily Beast executive editor Katie Baker adds her contribution to the ongoing narrative that portrays Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as more dangerous than former President Donald Trump. The catalyst for this piece was Casey DeSantis, Ron DeSantis’s wife, wearing a bomber jacket with the words “where woke goes to die” and an image of Florida on its back during a visit to Iowa.
Baker seizes on this wardrobe choice as an opportunity to draw comparisons between Casey and Melania Trump, ultimately arguing that Melania’s jacket, which read “I Really Don’t Care,” was more enigmatic, while Casey’s jacket represents the crude and explicit nature of the DeSantis campaign.
Baker dismisses Ron and Casey DeSantis as knock-offs of the Trumps, stating that while Trump embodies raw, chaotic id, DeSantis is akin to the unpopular kid in school seeking revenge. Baker’s argument is fueled by a desire to discern truth based on subjective interpretations and perceptions, as she acknowledges that her success as a journalist and the prospects of the candidates she supports are influenced by the agreement and support she receives from like-minded individuals.
Baker is not alone in her preference for Trump over DeSantis. Other media outlets and personalities have openly expressed their favoritism, either implicitly or explicitly. Some, like writers at the New Republic and Vanity Fair, openly proclaim that a DeSantis presidency would be worse than Trump’s, while various MSNBC personalities also exhibit clear bias. Even those who attempt to conceal their preference cannot hide their inclinations, as demonstrated by Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post, who couldn’t help but display her satisfaction with Trump’s polling lead.
The media’s investment in Trump as a ratings generator and a catalyst for Democratic success is evident in their coverage of the upcoming presidential race. Some outlets have dropped any pretense of objectivity and openly favor Trump, while others maintain a more subtle bias. Journalists like Michael Kruse and Mark Leibovich attempt to camouflage their work as respectable reporting but rely on biased sources with personal motivations to attack DeSantis.
The message on Melania’s coat, like the one-time model herself, was sphinxlike. Was it a sign to the outside that Melania dreamed of escaping her boorish husband, the stuff of a thousand Resistance Twitter fever memes? Was it the physical manifestation of the Trumps’ casual cruelty? After all, Melania was flying down to where the administration locked up little kids in cages and tore them from the arms of their desperate parents. Did it mean nothing at all, like her spox insisted—maybe like Melania herself, a cipher whose eyes seem to betray an inner emptiness, like the infinite refraction of mirrored light off of all those gold-plated Trump Tower bathroom fixtures?
By contrast, Casey DeSantis’ coat is just like her husband Ron DeSantis’ campaign: Crude. Grasping. Saying the ugly part out loud. Whereas Trump would wink-wink at the fascists—who can forget his dog whistle to the “very fine people on both sides” at Charlottesville—DeSantis wants to peel off Trump’s base by being even more explicit about who he intends to target. You can see it right there on his wife’s jacket: DeSantis’ Florida is where the woke go to die—and a lot of other people die as well.
