Rarely does one picture truly tell 1,000 words. But a Fox News segment this week perfectly captured the state of the GOP's 2024 presidential race, in a few short frames.
Why it matters: Rupert Murdoch, the Donald Trump booster turned critic, has turned Fox News into a very friendly platform for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — promoting his unofficial run for president.
The drama: DeSantis, plugging his new book and testing his 2024 message, joined "Fox & Friends" virtually on Tuesday.
- As part of the coverage, co-host Brian Kilmeade was working a live audience at the Metro Diner in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. — a suburb of Jacksonville, DeSantis' birthplace.
In 2020, this could've been Sean Hannity teeing up Trump. But things have soured badly between the former president and the most-watched cable news channel.
The climax: Kilmeade roams the diner, asking who people support for 2024.
- "Trump," says the first.
- "Trump," says the second.
- "Trump," says the third ... and fourth ... and fifth ... and sixth.
Finally, Kilmeade finds a woman with a DeSantis T-shirt, and asks her who she backs.
- She replies: "Oh, gosh! I don't know. Trump or DeSantis — I'm either/or."
The intrigue: DeSantis used to live within walking distance of the diner — and represented the area when he was in Congress, The (Jacksonville) Florida Times-Union writes.
The bottom line: While DeSantis has surged to the clear number two in the GOP field, the diner crowd echoed what four recent polls found:
- This is Trump's party — and crashing it will be harder than many presume.
Go deeper: Watch the video (Mediaite)
