I think you guys are missing the point. He’s not going to “respect the institution”. Everyone here knows that, yes
@fskimospy too.
What’s being said is does his stated desire to pass a law effectively outlawing criticism of him actually mean he’s going to get that law passed.
First thing is simply stating he wants it will play well with his base because as you say they are mostly deplorable. It plays the culture war card and doesn’t cost him anything he cares about. Win-Win for Desantis.
But actually implementing it has a shit ton of unintended consequences. It would let left leaning politicians bring the judicial hammer down on rightwing media just as he could on left wing critics.
If that happens rightwing power brokers & media will turn on him for fucking up their business. To prevent that from happening he’d have to pass the law basically stating only conservatives can sue. This wouldn’t be saying the quiet part out loud. This would be screaming fascism from the rooftops.
Then he’s got to defend it in court. Conservatives don’t control every court so he could lose. If he takes to the Supreme Court they would have to get on the roof top and scream fascism with him which is actually unlikely. Or they do but Biden still controls the federal government and the military and hello constitutional crisis.
Oh and Trump will be attacking him every step of the way splitting Desantis’s base.
So which is more likely here?