Can DeSantis scale the MAGA wall in SC? Furman’s Nelsen offers his thoughts

Brent Nelsen, the Jane Fishburne Hipp Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Furman University, contributes to an extensive article about the 2024 presidential election in the Tampa Bay Times. Reporting from an early July Trump rally in Pickens, South Carolina, Jay Cridlin notes the importance of South Carolina in selecting the eventual GOP nominee – “perhaps the most crucial primary in DeSantis’ bid for the White House,” and points to the ground the Florida governor needs to make up in the battle against front-runner former President Donald Trump.

Nelsen believes DeSantis’ fighter mentality could work in his favor. “South Carolina has a long history of being the rebels and being somewhat out of sync with the cultural players, press players in America,” he said. “To be out of sync with New York and Washington is a good thing in South Carolina and has been for a long time.”