Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley are ostensibly running against Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. The problem is, that they are too terrified to criticize their opponent in any way.
Trump's MAGA army has taken over the GOP and Republican politicians must pay constant fealty to them. There is a chance that someday a Conservative politician comes along who could break this hold on the party. But DeSantis and Haley don't want to do that, which led to criticism from Chris Wallace.
Host Abby Phillip asked, "We are in this final countdown now to Iowa, and Trump is, as you said, the clear frontrunner. Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis are battling it out for second place, but they are now turning from attacking each other to saying that they are the ones who are gonna take on the former president."
Wallace responded, "You know, you hear a little thing from DeSantis about, “Well he can’t win” or “Trump didn’t keep all his promises as president,” and from Nikki Haley about chaos. I mean, let’s put this in perspective. No Republican has ever won a contested race in the Iowa caucuses by more than 12 points. Right now, Donald Trump leads both Haley and DeSantis by more than 30 points."
The CNN personality continued:
"So it seems awfully late for them to come to this recognition. But you know, I know one of them wants to be second, the other third. If you finish second but 30 or 32 points behind the frontrunner, you’re a loser. You’re not the second-place finisher, you’re the first loser."