‘Everybody’s scared to death of Trump’: Even some Ron DeSantis supporters in South Carolina think he’s going to lose

It was some of the same sentiment as well in DeSantis’ stop at a diner in Florence, where the former Navy officer leaned heavily into his experience as the “only veteran running for president.”

“Everybody’s scared to death of Trump,” said Steven Best, a Trump supporter who said he only came out to see DeSantis because his wife wanted to, citing efforts to remove Trump from the ballot over his attempt to overturn the 2020 election as support for his viewpoint.

“I love his message,” said David Steding as he and his wife waited for the Florida governor earlier in Myrtle Beach. “I just don’t think he’s going to win here.”

The Stedings were among hundreds waiting to see DeSantis take the stage at a restaurant just off one of the main thoroughfares in Myrtle Beach. He scheduled two other stops Saturday in a state whose primary has historically been influential in determining the party’s nominee.

The events reflect his decision to shift his campaign away from New Hampshire and its leadoff Republican primary on Tuesday, where he is not expected to match his finish in last Monday’s Iowa causes, won by Trump with DeSantis edging Haley for second.

At his first appearance, DeSantis jabbed at Haley, a former governor of South Carolina, which holds its primary on Feb. 24. In front of video screens displaying the logos of his campaign and super political action committee, he asked the crowd to “tell me major achievements of Nikki Haley when she was governor? Anybody?”

After someone shouted out “gas tax” — which both DeSantis and Trump have accused Haley of trying to raise during her six…