Casey DeSantis is trying to put a happy face on the anti-LBGTQ rhetoric that’s at the center of her husband’s floundering presidential campaign, Eleanor Clift writes for The Daily Beast.
Florida’s first lady in a campaign video claims to have taken a leading role in an arm of her husband’s campaign as the lead Mama of “Mamas for DeSantis,” whose stated goal, Clift writes, is to “protect children from a litany of imagined horrors—among them Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’(DEI) programs and 'child mutilation.'"
Clift writes that Casey DeSantis’ appearance in the video: “Stunning in a royal blue halter top in a light-filled family room, Casey puts a pretty face on a dark message.”
“When you come after our kids, we fight back, because there’s nothing we won’t do to protect our children. They’re not yours,” she said in the video.
“We will not allow you to exploit their innocence to advance your agenda.”
Veteran political consultant who worked with former first lady Rosalynn Carter and with Kitty Dukakis during her husband’s run as the Democratic Party’s 1988 nominee suggested Casey DeSantis’ skills could be better used by her husband’s campaign.
“It’s surprising because the spouse of the candidate is supposed to soften his image, a role that has been written about ad nauseam,” Paul Costello said.
“She’s a likable person who could be a great advocate for her husband. She should let him do whatever he needs to do politically and then tell the story of his family. I don’t know what going down the rabbit hole of the culture war gets them.”
Clift likened Casey DeSantis to a more extreme version of Sarah Palin.
“Can Casey’s intervention rescue their campaign from oblivion?” Clift writes.
“She stands out among the GOP spouses as the only one carving out a public space for herself—with a cheeky demeanor reminiscent of Sarah Palin’s ‘hockey mom,’ only more dangerously polarizing.”
