The Trump release includes links to news reports and left-leaning studies claiming that Florida is unaffordable and unsafe, with low teacher pay, a “failing education system,” a “failing medical environment,” and much more. “ESPN wrote that Florida is the Worst State in The Nation To Die,” the statement says. Is Mr. Trump in the habit of taking policy advice from ESPN? Or was some intern told to do a Google search for this amateur hit job?

Some of the statistics come from groups with progressive agendas. Mr. Trump cites a 2022 Oxfam report that says Florida is the 29th best state for workers. But this scorecard dings states that have a “so-called ‘right-to-work’ law (which suppresses union activity).” Another factor is “statewide policies on collective bargaining for public workers.” Florida also loses points because it doesn’t allow “localities to implement their own minimum wage laws.”

Mr. Trump cites the Florida Policy Institute, which demands “Driver’s License Equity” by allowing “(undocumented) immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.” Wasn’t immigration Mr. Trump’s signature issue in 2016? They say politics makes strange bedfellows, but Mr. Trump’s one-night stand with this outfit is bizarre.

[This kind of kitchen-sink attack strategy has always been Trump’s MO. Is it coherent? Not really. Is it *effective*? We’ll see. It was in 2015, but it had the virtue of novelty and being deployed against political figures no one was really deeply invested in. Like it or not, DeSantis is a very significant part of the GOP’s future in national elections, especially after his rout of Democrats in Florida. Trump might end up alienating people over these kinds of left-wing-informed attacks, especially once primary voters really start paying attention. — Ed]