Report typos and corrections to: corrections@rawstory.com.
Like this article ? Text `Support` to 50123 to donate.
How Ron DeSantis yields 'a tremendous amount of power' over Florida politics: 'Cross him once, you’re dead'
January 16, 2022
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is considered one of the most powerful governors to ever hold office in the state of Florida, according to a new report.
Per Politico, the Republican governor exerted even more power over top state officials and lawmakers by "cracking down on election crimes, spending $8 million to transport 'unauthorized aliens' out of state and targeting 'wokeness' in schools."
"Democrats, who are in the minority, are unable to stop him," Politico reports. "And Republicans in the Florida Legislature are enthusiastically carrying out his wishes or are unwilling to buck him."
“He’s become the 1,100-pound gorilla in state government,” said Tom Lee, a member of the Republican Party and former president of the Senate who worked with four different governors over the course of his 18 years with the Legislature. “Gov. DeSantis is extremely popular relative to most of his predecessors. With that goes a tremendous amount of power.”
Lee also noted how Republicans have enabled the governor.
“Republicans are doing very well and hanging together on a lot of these issues. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” said Lee. “He’s been very effective in picking issues and having his finger on the pulse on how the public reacts… When you are on the trajectory he is on right now, you are not going to have a lot of detractors in your own party.”
“There are no second chances,” said one former legislator, who spoke to Politico anonymously. “It’s well known you can’t go against him. If you cross him once, you’re dead.”
A number of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have also expressed concern about the imbalance of legislative power within Florida's state government. State Rep. Ben Diamond (D-St. Petersburg, Fla.) offered critical remarks about the power disparity between DeSantis and the Legislature noting that they have an obligation to “their constituents, not the governor.”
“While Gov. DeSantis is the leader of his party, there are a number of Floridians depending on their legislators to represent their best interests, not those of the governor and his potential presidential campaign,” Diamond said.
One Republican lawmaker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, shared a startling assessment of the governor's legislative role. "They are not going to embarrass Ron DeSantis," the lawmaker said. "Ron DeSantis is essentially the speaker of the House, the president of the Senate, and the chief justice of the Supreme Court right now.”
According to State Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando, Fla.), DeSantis' popularity among "rank-and-file Republican voters" is a large part of the problem as many lawmakers within his party refuse to challenge his authority.
“In addition to his veto pen, Republican lawmakers see him as appealing to their base, so if they question him they’re questioning the base which would hurt them on the campaign trail,” Eskamani said. “So not only do they consent to his extreme agenda but some try to appeal to it by filing their own bills grounded in the culture wars.”
CONTINUE READING
Show less
'Stop seeing Spiderman!' SNL's Joe Biden explains how Americans can end the pandemic
January 15, 2022
President Joe Biden, played by James Austin Johnson, delivered a message about COVID-19 in Saturday Night Live's Cold Open on Saturday.
"As I keep saying every chance I get, we're in the middle of a cold, dark winter. This winter is so dark Republicans don't think it should vote," Johnson's Biden said.
"This virus has disrupted our lives," he added. "It's canceled holidays, weddings, quinceañeras, gender-reveal parties, wildfires that started as gender-reveal parties, and whatever the hell is happening with Novak Djokovic."
"I know you're retired of getting emails from your kid's school late at night saying, 'OK, come in tomorrow, we're feeling lucky,'" he said. "I know every time a stranger breathes on you, you think, 'That's it, I'm dead.'
"America, I'm here to tell you, there's one simple thing you can do to make this whole virus go away: Stop seeing 'Spiderman'!"
Watch below.
Message from the President Cold Open - SNL youtu.be
CONTINUE READING
Show less
Trump brags about Jan. 6 crowd size: 'I think it was the largest I've ever spoken before'
January 15, 2022
Former president Donald Trump on Saturday complained that the "fake news" media never reports on the size of the crowd at his Jan. 6 "Stop the Steal" rally prior to the Capitol insurrection.
"They talk about the people that walked down to the Capitol," Trump told the crowd at his MAGA rally in Arizona. "They don't talk about the size of that crowd. I believe it was the largest crowd I've ever spoken before, and they were there to protest the election."
Trump also promoted a false-flag conspiracy theory that the FBI — which he indirectly controlled at the time through the executive branch — was somehow behind the insurrection.
"Exactly how many of those present at the Capitol complex on Jan. 6 were FBI confidential informants, agents, or otherwise working directly or indirectly with an agency of the United States government?" Trump said.
"How about the one guy (who said) 'go in, go in, get in there everybody' — Epps — 'get in there, go, go, go,'" Trump said, referring to Jan. 6 protester Ray Epps.
This week, the House Select Committee investigating the insurrection debunked the conspiracy theory about Epps, which has been pushed by others including Fox News' Tucker Carlson, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
"Nothing happens to him," Trump said of Epps. "What happened with him? Nothing happens. Did any of these individuals play any role whatsoever in facilitating the events at the Capitol? That's what we want to know."
Watch below.
Trump on January 6th: They don\u2019t talk about the size of that crowd\u2026 I think it was largest I ever, and the fake news never talks about itpic.twitter.com/FkAIR3NY7b— Acyn (@Acyn) 1642302352
Trump pushes the fedsurrection conspiracy theory, ignoring that we all witnessed him organizing and inciting the January 6 attack on the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/1tmNfFxg7a
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 16, 2022
CONTINUE READING
Show less
Copyright © 2021 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 | Masthead | Privacy Policy | For corrections or concerns, please email corrections@rawstory.com.
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}