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His argument is dumb, and the idea that Ron DeSantis could challenge Trump to a boxing fight is dumb. People are not going to look at all five-foot-nine of Ron DeSantis proposing a boxing match as a political stunt and think, "Wow, this guy is the real alpha, now I like him more than Trump". It's facile. Is this really what people want? Dumb arguments dressed up in rationalist costumes?
I do not think that Hanania's article is wearing any rationalist costume. It is simply vicious political criticism/satire in the style of H. L. Mencken or Hunter Thompson. I guess Hanania is vaguely associated with rationalism for some reason (I don't know much about him), but this article has zero pretense of being rationalist.
I agree that it would just seem silly if DeSantis is actually 5'9", given that Trump is 6'3". It is hard to figure out DeSantis' actual height though. I've seen figures of up to 5'11".
Anyway, I am not sure that Hanania really thinks that DeSantis challenging Trump to a boxing match would help DeSantis. You might be interpreting Hanania's article too literally. His main point is not to give DeSantis advice, it is to point out that the Republican base wants machismo and owning the libs, not policies or speeches.
It might seem silly, but DeSantis is 44, Trump 76. The young, small guy would beat the senior citizen. Trump could potentially turn things around and say that DeSantis is just a liar and a braggart, beating up on a fit old guy or some crap like that. Then he can say DeSantis has a Napoleon complex, if he really is 5’9”. Even at six feet, DeSantis might have a hard time doing this.
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