I did not have this on my Bingo card today as I scrolled through my X (Twitter) timeline. Yet, there it was. Politico is running a story that the Trump campaign and Laura Loomer have teamed up with Ron Filipkowski to take down Ron DeSantis. I don’t think David had it on his Bingo card, either.

My first thought was, “Really?”. My second thought was the same as I have almost daily – if Donald Trump is so certain that he has the Republican presidential primary all wrapped up before the first vote is even cast, why is he spending so much time and money to take out Ron DeSantis? The answer to the second question is that Trump is an insecure egomaniac but that is nothing new.

🚨@politico confirms that @LauraLoomer and the Trump campaign are working hand-in-hand with noted liberal Ron Filipkowski in attempt to take down @RonDeSantis. pic.twitter.com/mmSCo7r86B

— Cryptid Politics 🇺🇸🐊 (@CryptidPolitics) August 17, 2023

It’s an odd union – Ron Filipkowski, a former Republican turned Trump hating Twitter troll, and Loomer, a Trump loyalist and conspiracy theorist.

“I’m probably the top anti-DeSantis person on Twitter. So if [rivals] have something anti-DeSantis that they want to get into the mainstream, they’ll send it to me,” Filipkowski said, without disclosing the name of anyone on the Trump campaign he’s worked with. The Trump campaign declined to comment.

Loomer said they speak occasionally. “He knows I’m a Trump loyalist, and I know he doesn’t like Trump, and despite our differences, we have found common ground on making sure Ron DeSantis is never elected president of the United States, ever.”

The 54-year-old Filipkowski is “a low-profile criminal defense attorney arguing cases involving drug possession or drunk driving.” That is Politico’s description of the Republican troll who is so proficient on X (Twitter). Trump broke a lot of people, now it looks like DeSantis is breaking Trumpers. It’s the cycle of political life these days.

The Republican Party is divided. I think we are in for a world of hurt in November 2024, as things are shaping up. It’s still early enough that I’m not giving up on the Republican primary producing an alternative to Trump as the nominee. I think Trump knows its is possible because he is so focused on DeSantis and none of the others in the primary. And, Trump won’t commit to doing the debates. Trump fancies himself a talented debater and he expects the nomination. It seems strange he won’t participate in a debate to offer the contrast between himself and the others. Votes have to be earned, this isn’t a coronation.

A majority of voters do not want either Biden or Trump to run for president. The Democrats have united to stop Trump from getting back into office. Instead of focusing on his general election competition, Trump is still focused on DeSantis, his strongest primary challenger. Trump knows his nomination is not a sure thing. I don’t see any DeSantis supporters throwing in the towel. I see a lot of Trumpers and Never-Trumpers saying it is all over for DeSantis.

Filipkowski is known for finding video online that others don’t and then posting it. His posts go viral. Who knows what he’ll use to attack DeSantis? Trump’s campaign has probably found all there is, since DeSantis looks like he has a pretty tame past, even for a politician.

During the 2022 midterm election, he shared a video of Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz talking about preparing a crudité platter that went viral and underscored voter concerns that the wealthy TV physician was out of touch. During the same cycle, he picked up on then-Senate candidate J.D. Vance telling Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast he didn’t “care what happens to Ukraine one way or another,” a moment that previewed the shift in how Republicans view foreign conflicts. Days later, Vance’s campaign issued a statement clarifying his comments. And earlier this year, when 2024 GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis lashed out at a reporter during a trip to Jerusalem over a question about his time serving at Guantanamo Bay as a Navy lawyer, Filipkowski posted a clipped video of the moment that now has over 3.8 million views.

His tweets have sparked cable news segments and online battles with political operatives. Journalists have alerts turned on to catch the latest photo or obscure right-wing event he has uncovered. Even the campaigns he covers and political figures he loathes have warmed to him and even teamed up with him. Filipkowski said he is in contact with far-right activist Laura Loomer and people affiliated with Donald Trump’s campaign. It’s not to boost Trump (whom he has been agitating against since the 2020 campaign) but to upend their mutual enemy: DeSantis.

It’s all about taking out DeSantis.

“I’m probably the top anti-DeSantis person on Twitter. So if [rivals] have something anti-DeSantis that they want to get into the mainstream, they’ll send it to me,” Filipkowski said, without disclosing the name of anyone on the Trump campaign he’s worked with. The Trump campaign declined to comment.

Loomer said they speak occasionally. “He knows I’m a Trump loyalist, and I know he doesn’t like Trump, and despite our differences, we have found common ground on making sure Ron DeSantis is never elected president of the United States, ever.”

Working with Loomer will not bring voters to Trump. It will make Trump loyalists happy but independent voters will turn away from the wacky conspiracy theory woman. When critics talk about a Trump cult, she is someone who fits the description. Filipkowski is in the Lincoln Project territory. He’s a Democrat operative happy to see Biden re-elected.

Covid broke Filipkowski, if the Politico piece is true. He was angered by Trump’s performance during the pandemic. The lockdowns forced him to stay home and he watched Trump on television every day. He snapped. He answered a call to support Bill Kristol’s group against the re-election of Trump. And, the rest is history.

“A lot of Republicans talk about the fact that with Covid they were forced to see what their kids were being taught at school,” Filipkowski said. “For me, it was like, now I’m forced to watch Trump every day, and I just started throwing things at the TV and screaming. … I was shocked at how stupid he was and how obnoxious he was.” That’s when he decided, he says, “I’m gonna do everything I can to defeat him.”

One day, during the 2020 election cycle, he spotted a call for people to submit personal testimony videos for an advertising campaign by Republican Voters Against Trump, a group longtime conservative Bill Kristol was launching.

“I wrestled with it for like, two weeks. Because I’m like a known person here. You know, once I do that, it’s burning a bridge forever. … I can never walk into a Republican club or meeting again,” Filipkowski explained.

He did it anyway. What resulted was a video of Filipkowski rattling off a list of 20 reasons why he didn’t think the Republican party should support Trump’s re-election.

“I made the case to conservatives, which is like, ‘Why do you like this? … You say that you’re for this military service, [that you’re] Christian who lives right down the line, and [Trump], in every way, has lived his life the opposite of what you believe,’” Filipkowski explained.

Filipkowski served in the military as a Marine.

Ironically, he was appointed by Florida Gov. Rick Scott and by Ron DeSantis to Florida’s 12th Circuit judicial nominating commission. He resigned from that commission due to his disgust with how DeSantis handled Covid in Florida.

A few months later, Filipkowski publicly resigned from his appointment on the judicial nominating committee over DeSantis’ handling of the pandemic in Florida. In his resignation letter, he called DeSantis’ policies “reckless and irresponsible.” His resignation became national news with appearances on CNN and MSNBC as the first DeSantis appointee to quit.

“I thought DeSantis was like competing with [South Dakota Gov. Kristi] Noem over who could open the fastest. … I thought it was going to be a disaster, and it was,” Filipkowski said. “As much as he wants to rewrite history, I remember all the people who died.”

I don’t think Filipkowski knows what he wants. Biden’s policies were the worst of all during the pandemic. Whether literally or not, his activism supports Democrats and Biden. It will help Biden’s re-election. Is that what he wants?