Can Ron DeSantis Wrest Away the MAGA Crown?

A special archive edition of The Hive [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( Can Ron DeSantis Wrest Away the MAGA Crown? Happy Memorial Day! Ron DeSantis only just officially [entered]( the 2024 race, but he has long been on a collision course with Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, as Gabriel Sherman [spelled out]( in a riveting profile last fall. Sherman captured the behind-the-scenes animosity between the two camps and the potential liabilities for DeSantis. “People describe DeSantis’s personality as a mix of extreme arrogance and painful awkwardness,” wrote Sherman, with one prominent Republican saying the Florida governor is “missing the sociability gene.” Whoever nabs the GOP nomination will still need to beat Joe Biden, who, as Chris Smith [wrote]( in a recent feature, needs to prove to voters that he’s up for another term. Also, on this holiday weekend, as the [potential horrors]( of a second Trump term come into focus, we’re looking back at Sarah Ellison’s reporting on West Wing [chaos]( during his first term, along with Michael Lewis on [the risks]( and Joe Pompeo on [the ratings](. Thanks for reading. [The Rise of the Ronald]( By [Gabriel Sherman]( [Ron DeSantis is the polished, competent, Fox-loving, lib-owning successor-in-waiting to Donald Trump’s MAGA nation. Is it any wonder they’re locked in a 2024 cold war?]( [Read more button](   [The Question of Joe Biden’s Age: “It’s a Legitimate Concern”]( By [Chris Smith]( [At 80, President Biden is at the peak of his career. As he makes another run at the White House, those around him see a man with unfinished business who’s still deeply concerned about American democracy. But can they prove to the American voters that he’s up to the task?]( [Read more button](   [The Westeros Wing]( By [Sarah Ellison]( [In the cramped pressure cooker of the West Wing, with an unprecedented lack of leadership from the president, the knives are out.]( [Read more button](   [The 5th Risk]( By [Michael Lewis]( [A man who campaigned on abolishing the Department of Energy, former Texas governor Rick Perry, is now running the $30 billion agency. President Trump has proposed slashing its budget, and its highly skilled workforce has been devastated. Those familiar with the DOE’s key roles—from guarding the US nuclear arsenal to assessing the North Korean threat, to protecting the electrical grid—are terrified.]( [Read more button](   [“You May Never See Those Numbers Again”: Can Cable News Pass the Post-Trump Test?]( By [Joe Pompeo]( [Four years of chaos turned Americans into TV addicts. A new crop of leaders and stars at CNN and MSNBC—and the old hands at Fox News—are trying to keep them tuning in. “I don’t think the days of the missing airplane are coming back,” says Abby Phillip. “There’s still a lot of interest in politics.”]( [Read more button](   Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn](   This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe](newsletter=vf) Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2023 Condé Nast