Last week, former President Donald J. Trump surrendered himself to New York authorities after a Grand Jury indicted him on 34 felony charges. The indictment marked the first time in United States history that a former president was indicted and has further polarized the political conversation. 

Republicans were quick to call the indictment and arrest politically motivated, a sentiment shared by two-thirds of the nation at large, according to a CNN poll. More surprisingly, however, was that half the nation still supported the indictment, including 21% of Republican voters. Independents, too, supported the indictment, with 62% responding in favor. 

So what does this mean for the future of the Trump campaign and the GOP as a whole? For one, it gives Trump a way to motivate his core base of supporters. Political analysts suggest that the indictment “may only harden [supporters’] resolve to back him in the 2024 Republican primary.” That could be a disaster when it comes to 2024, since Trump is deeply unpopular with moderates and more importantly, independents. 

Given how contentious elections are, the GOP needs every vote it can get, and if 21% of Republicans and 62% of Independents believe that Trump is a criminal, it makes a victory unlikely. There’s a simple solution, however: a little-known politician and Florida Governor by the name of Ron DeSantis. 

Jokes aside, DeSantis is the perfect Republican candidate for 2024. A former Trump ally, he’s a heavy hitter when it comes to social issues and has shown himself to be thoroughly conservative when it comes to issues like gun control, freedom of religion, and taxes. DeSantis also entered the race with something Trump didn’t the first time he ran: a track record. Under DeSantis’ leadership, Florida has turned into a conservative paradise: School choice, constitutional carry, laws against indoctrination in schools, a laissez-faire approach to public health, crackdowns on woke ideologues in government, a booming economy, and more. 

Florida has also served as an example to other red states, as laws surrounding critical theory, gender ideology, conversion therapy, and wokeness in general, which were first passed in Florida, soon began to pop up in legislatures across the nation. 

If I had to choose to trust one man to stand up to the woke mob, reduce the size and scope of the government, uphold law and order, and ultimately protect my liberties, I’d choose DeSantis over Trump any day. 

That’s DeSantis: A no-nonsense, charismatic, and committed Conservative. You won’t find any mean tweets about his compatriots on his Twitter, nor off-putting racist quips making the rounds on cable television. Just a good old American Conservative with plenty of sound-bite moments to fulfill the modern man’s 15-second attention span.