This week marked another terminal chapter in the candidacy of Ron DeSantis. New polling illustrates his continued descent in the 2024 GOP primary. He has now slipped to third in South Carolina, with his second place standing in Iowa in grave danger. The most generous polling average shows Ron DeSantis trailing President Trump by a whopping 32 points.

The campaign is virtually bankrupt, with nowhere to turn after a devastatingly low show of support amongst small dollar donors. At least a dozen staffers are updating their resumes after a major campaign shakeup. Not long after bragging about a “$100 million door-knocking operation,” a twenty second clip surfaced of an admittedly stoned DeSantis door knocker insulting voters in South Carolina.

One Iowa GOP county committee recently lambasted DeSantis for bussing in out-of-town supporters to fill events that would be otherwise empty. The campaign avoids retail politics like it’s the plague because of the near certainty of a Biden-like gaffe from their candidate going viral. DeSantis has spent millions of dollars only to hemorrhage support.

Yet, Ron refuses to accept reality. He insists, instead, that the obvious implosion of his candidacy is only a mirage, a “narrative.”

Don’t believe your lying eyes, DeSantis has desperately pleaded. But this delusion can be easily explained—in Rontopia, if you have a Twitter account and sense of self-importance, you too can make believe whatever you like.

Tallahassee’s consultants have read the writing on the wall—but their objective remains unchanged: milk as many dollars as possible. And if an Academy Award-winning performance is required to fill the candidate’s head with majestic illusions of grandeur to keep the gravy train rolling, grab your popcorn. It’s showtime.

His posse of online surrogates refuse to accept their self-righteous leaps from Team Trump has left them in the drink. The more obvious it becomes, the more they lash out at those who showed more sense.

Meanwhile, Ron’s ‘Never Trump’ donors—many of whom look down their nose at the MAGA base as “a basket of deplorables”—reject the idea they’ve bet on the wrong horse. If they’re willing to lie to themselves, they are surely willing to lie to you.

Political maneuvering aside, this should serve as a beacon of hope—that the American people are tuned in and pissed off.

Their uniparty abusers originally coalesced around Ron DeSantis, not just with donor bucks, but also with ceaseless promotion on corporate media networks. They emptied the vault to finance his run, and twice indicted his leading political opponent on empty charges.

The people, though, are smarter. These political tricks have been seen for what they are. No amount of TV coverage, special interest courting, nor astroturfing will make them surrender their sacred right to hire and fire this nation’s leaders.

DeSantis is done—and for many, myself included, it’s not personal. We’re in a fight that’s too important, perhaps, the greatest this nation has ever faced: to restore the power to the people. If we are to have a fighting chance, we can’t go with the guy the establishment blesses—whose campaign is fueled by their money, their airwaves, or their henchmen. We need the one they gravely fear.

It’s easy to spot, as it’s the one they attack with reckless abandon. We need the man with the scars—who’s taken their arrows and goes back to the mat every single time. From where I stand, only one man fits that bill: President Donald J. Trump.

Eric Greitens served as a Navy SEAL and Governor of Missouri.