"The governor and his aides bear plenty. The Republican base, afflicted with appalling cultishness, bears most of it. Insofar as the media is culpable, their guilt stems from how they promoted Trump incessantly in 2016. That helped create the conditions for the cult to flourish; now that it has, we’re all forced to live with it.

We should prepare to spend the next few months seeing DeSantis fans and assorted other anti-anti-Trumpers blame the press for his failure, though.

That’s not because (or not just because) the governor’s admirers will be loath to admit their disappointment in him. It’s because partisans desperate for an excuse to stick with this repulsive party even after it’s tripled down on Trump will need a way to exculpate Republican voters for their terrible choice." - Nick Catoggio