So, those who support Desantis on the grounds that he is more electable are forgetting something: Desantis has to tack to the populist right in order to peel away Trump’s supporters. Since Trump is polling above, or at least close to 50% among likely Republican primary voters, Desantis cannot simply sit back and allow the anti-Trump parts of the Republican party to consolidate behind him. No, in order to get past the 50% line he has to pull supporters away from Trump; he knows that the anti-Trumpers have no other viable option. If Trump were merely polling at 35% or 40%, Desantis would probably be tacking just to the left of Trump.
This helps to explain why Trump is being so friendly to Tim Scott: Trump knows that Tim Scott will be far more likely to steal votes away from Desantis as the governor tacks right than from him. (Trump may also be eyeing Tim Scott as a running mate in order to help turn states like GA).
However, if Desantis tacks right, it is very possible that he ends up creating as much ire as Trump himself did: Indictments, accusations of collusion, and all the rest of it. He will have a very hard time tacking back towards the center, and to the left of Trump, during the general election. The juxtaposition will seem fraudulent to both independent voters and Democrats disaffected with Biden while angering any supporters he pulled away from Trump; all the while Trump’s most ardent supporters will simply sit the election out.