It is also happening now because Governor DeSantis' perceived power has gone down: he ran against Trump and lost by a wide margin which reduced DeSantis' aura of invincibility—he is a lame duck governor with 2 years left who cannot run for reelection—and he does not have $200 million to threaten members.

The problem for DeSantis is his own state's Republicans think they know Trump better. DeSantis last week ordered lawmakers into a special legislative session to pass a raft of border-related proposals he floated,