Republican red meat: Ron DeSantis bids to outflank Trump on the right

From Covid to crime, from immigration to cultural issues, the Florida governor is aiming to paint Trump as too liberal

Donald Trump is not the most rightwing candidate running for the White House. That is a statement few would have thought possible after the former president’s brand of nativist-populism reshaped the Republican party’

But as the Republican primary election for 2024 gathers pace, Trump finds himself eclipsed on the right by Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, who is betting that the party’s voters are spoiling for an even more extreme agenda.