“Trumpism without Trump” is the name for this nominal approach to electoral politics. DeSantis is its most prominent adherent, but there are others. In Virginia, there’s Governor Glenn Youngkin, who is less bombastic than DeSantis (who is, in turn, less bombastic than Trump). Many of Trump’s ostensible rivals for the 2024 nomination, like former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, have adopted Trump’s positions and, in Ramaswamy’s case, his outsider persona, and largely refrain from criticizing him.
The working theory behind “Trumpism without Trump” was that you could essentially reverse engineer much of Trump’s appeal, pushing pugilistic culture war policies that placate his voters while also taking a more disciplined—and donor-friendly—approach to politics itself. The base would still get the culture war stuff they thrill to, in a less improvised and somewhat sanitized fashion. The donors would get someone less liable to fly off the handle and, for that matter, less likely to pursue personal pet policies (trade wars) and vendettas. The thinking was that everyone could get what they wanted: The donors get an electable candidate; the base gets a candidate that is programmed to sound and act like Donald Trump. Everybody wins.
There are two big problems with this theory. The first is that it is, by its very nature, highly dependent on the “Trump w/o the Trump” candidates being extremely solicitous to Donald Trump. It is required that you praise Trump’s presidency and his policy record. Candidates adopting the “Trumpism Without Trump” must argue that they are best suited to carry on his legacy and agenda, despite the fact that the genuine article is sitting right there, running for president.