Donald Trump Fires at Ron DeSantis—and Misses

“We’re winning big in the Republican Party for the nomination like nobody’s ever seen before,” Mr. Trump told the crowd as he pointed to polling numbers up on a screen. “There it is, Trump at 71%, Ron DeSanctimonious at 10%.

Mike Pence

at 7—oh, Mike is doing better than I thought.”

The New York Times

reports that Mr. Trump had been privately testing nicknames for Mr. DeSantis. It still proved a dud. And it’s notable that he didn’t use it again at a Florida rally the next day when he said to great applause that Mr. DeSantis would be re-elected. That’s the closest thing to a Trump admission that it was a mistake.

Mr. Trump’s critics can’t see why this insult is any different from those that came before. The difference is that this time Mr. Trump misread the room. It didn’t help that it also just wasn’t that catchy or funny. And most people had to think about it for a moment to get what Mr. Trump was referring to—unlike, say, “Sleepy Joe” for President Biden.

But the main reason it flopped is that Mr. Trump didn’t know his audience. It’s no secret that what his supporters like most about Mr. Trump is what Lincoln said of Grant: He fights. But they don’t want him to fight a successful Republican governor who has an impressive record of fighting for many of the things they most care about.

The timing was also off. Republicans, including many who twice pulled the lever for Mr. Trump, have now had a taste of what a Democratic White House and Congress mean for them. The last thing they want is Mr. Trump turning his fire on people they regard as members of their own team three days before what looks to be a Republican wave election.

Indeed, the most bitter criticism is coming not from the press. The press would like nothing better than to stoke a Trump vs. DeSantis insultfest. To the contrary, Mr. Trump’s problem now is that the criticism is coming from people who would likely vote for him again if he were the 2024 GOP nominee but are also open to Gov. DeSantis.

Remember too the context. The purpose of Mr. Trump’s Pennsylvania rally Saturday was to help two struggling Republicans he endorsed in the primary. They are

Doug Mastriano

for governor (down 10.7 points in the RealClearPolitics polling average), who’s probably beyond saving, and

Mehmet Oz

for senator (up 0.1 point), who has a real shot.

If Mr. Oz loses what had been a GOP seat, Republicans will have to flip two Democratic seats to gain control of the Senate. Yet any positive message about poor Mr. Oz has now been drowned out by the potshot Mr. Trump took at Mr. DeSantis.

Meanwhile, next door in Ohio, a similarly beleaguered Trump-backed Republican Senate candidate, J.D. Vance, also experienced Mr. Trump’s idea of being supportive when he told the crowd his pick for Ohio’s next senator was “kissing my ass.” It has given his Democratic opponent, Rep.

Tim Ryan,

his best line: “Ohio needs an ass-kicker, not an ass-kisser.

It is impossible to imagine another former president so willing to belittle candidates of his own party on the eve of a general election. But this underscores Mr. Trump’s implicit threat to the Republican Party: Even if he decides not to run for the GOP nomination in 2024—or does run and doesn’t win—he will use whatever support he retains to ensure that the eventual Republican nominee loses that November.

Perhaps it isn’t surprising that Mr. Trump would be indifferent to the fate and fortune of the Republican Party. After all, he wasn’t really even a Republican until he ran for president. And he probably feels, with some justification, he wasn’t treated well by party elders when he first ran.

But it’s different today. No longer is he the outsider. He is a former president, the ostensible party leader, and the presumptive favorite should he run again. When he attacked Mr. DeSantis, he wasn’t the underdog returning fire—he was shooting first, unprovoked.

We’re long past the days of

Ronald Reagan

and the so-called 11th Commandment enjoining party members not to speak ill of fellow Republicans. Trump voters, moreover, are long used to other Republicans demeaning or calling out their favorite Trump-backed candidates. The difference this time is that the call is coming from inside the house.

Write to mcgurn@wsj.com.