The GOP governor of Florida was criticized for a long list of his choices in a brutal new editorial examining his potential 2024 presidential campaign.
"Ron DeSantis was Ron who? — a back-bencher in Congress with little hope of political stardom — when Donald Trump enthusiastically endorsed him more than four years ago. One Trump tweet changed Florida history," the Sun Sentinel editorial board wrote. "Now, as the ex-president sees DeSantis emerge as his biggest rival, Trump must have buyer’s remorse. You can practically hear the dishware breaking at Mar-a-Lago."
The newspaper said a DeSantis candidacy would be "bad news for the country."
"Anyone who admires DeSantis from afar should come to Florida with eyes wide open. After winning by just 32,463 votes, he has governed with total contempt toward the 4 million people who didn’t vote for him," the editorial board wrote. "He’s as authoritarian as Trump, just as disdainful of democracy, no less polarizing and openly hostile to scientific evidence that doesn’t conform to his narrow agenda."
The editorial board described DeSantis as a "bully" and reminded readers of his pandemic choices when he "appointed a quack" as the state's top physician.
"It’s terrifying to contemplate DeSantis in the Oval Office when the next pandemic inevitably comes along," the editorial board wrote. "When Nazis picketed at Orlando, he was silent. Exploiting society’s vulnerability to cultural warfare, DeSantis has prohibited schools, colleges and even private businesses from dealing honestly with racism and its ugly history. His law labeled “don’t say gay” by critics openly caters to homophobia, chilling sex education in schools and putting students at risk of being outed to their parents."
The newspaper also criticized DeSantis for his attacks on Disney World, gerrymandering, "calculated to replace two Black Democrats with white Republicans," 15-week abortion ban, and for the antics of his press secretary.
"The present Republican Party has no shortage of qualified governors or ex-governors to nominate: Larry Hogan of Maryland, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Chris Christie of New Jersey all won election or re-election in blue states by governing from the center, not from the dark extremes," the Sun Sentinel editorial board wrote. "The party’s post-Trump future rightfully belongs to people like them — not to the intentionally divisive, polarizing and humorless DeSantis. Voters in America’s 49 other states, take note."
Read the full editorial.
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