against that you have to give primary voters a compelling reason to bypass trump if they re going to do so, and generally speaking, except for the candidates in the race like chris cristi, the other leading candidates are not willing to do that, the writing is on the wall for ron desantis, he has no choice than to go further in the direction he s going, what he is doing so far clearly is not working. let me follow up on that, he says republican voters know the 2024 election can t be about what happened in 2020 but that doesn t square with trump being the dominant front runner in the race. not only the dominant front runner, but the investigations and indictments are overshadowing everything. i think we are at a critical time the summer, ron desantis is spending a lot of time in iowa, which opens the context next year three consecutive weekends, going back this weekend, trying to make his
he could be right that he doesn t immediate to do it because he has the nomination anyway but he s shined at all these previous debates. the camera is just laser focused on him, because he s the entertaining personality, what everybody wants to watch. more attention has always benefited trump. howie: but with that spotlight, will reflect also on the other candidates and he will be giving a platform. we forget their names when standing next to him. it s just trump. it s just trump. howie: i m not sure i totally agree with that but you could make the case. laura? if he s on that stage, somebody like chris cristi whose a very good debater, could just pummel him over this indictment. on the other hand as robbie points out trump is a particularly good counter-punch er, as i remember from 2015, 2016, and 2020. would his absence make it look like he s kind of hiding out? i think his absence lowers the profile of all of his opponents and makes them look small. strategically, it s very smar
ed at it and he should continue to use it to his benefit. maybe he has other opportunities then to debate to speak to the american people directly. doesn t want to bother sharing stage but i don t think chris cristi or anyone else will remotely dent him in any way that matters in any debate, period, end of story. howie: i d at least like to see it and then we have clips we could play because that s what we do on television. thanks very much for coming by this sunday. up next liberal bill maher blames the democrats for the migrant crisis and rfk jr. files suit against google. (vo) sail through the heart of historic cities and unforgettable scenery with viking. unpack once and get closer to iconic landmarks, local life and cultural treasures. because when you experience europe on a viking longship, you ll spend less time getting there and more time being there.
exactly what his opponents the people running against him, most of them at least not chris cristi but most of the others are running on the same issue which is why they are never going to beat trump because if you believe in that if you think that s the most important thing donald trump is at the center of it being victimized by it so obviously, the various prosecutors investigators are going to put together very good cases and multiple jurisdictions and that s like going to happen, but it s not going to hurt him running for president in the primaries. howie: and the washington post reports trump has spent $40 million on legal fees that s what he s not spending on his campaign but even for republican to say oh, this is just a paperwork dispute, when you read the boss wants this done and so forth it s the old cliche from water gate is the potential alleged coverup worse than the crime? it s to the point where there s an accumulation of evidence here. if you re in the jury they will