To the editor:

With Donald Trump being the only exception, I don’t think there’s anyone who really believes that his MAGA base is growing. More and more people are distancing themselves from him as he continues to spout his delusional conspiracy theories and the idea that somehow he will be reinstated as president.

Yet, here we have our Governor Ron DeSantis, who, blinded by his own ambition, has done everything in his power to downplay the resurgence of the Covid pandemic just to try and keep the support of the Trump base. The fact that his policies have cost the lives of thousands of Floridians who didn’t need to die doesn’t appear to be important enough for him to have done what’s right as opposed to doing what he thinks will help him politically.

DeSantis knows that he needs Trump’s base to be re-elected governor in 2022 and maybe president in 2024. The problem is — that base wasn’t enough to keep the Republicans in control of the House, the Senate or the White House in the last two elections. Unless he starts doing some things to attract a lot more voters who aren’t die-hard Trumpers, his political future becomes very clouded. And his handling of the Covid crisis isn’t doing anything to improve his numbers, just as the Trump’s bungling of the crisis cost him.

Ron DeSantis may have a degree from Harvard, but it seems he still hasn’t completely grasped fourth-grade arithmetic.

Jay Light

Fort Myers Beach