Florida's autocratic shift under Gov. Ron DeSantis was blasted by a former prosecutor who served on the GOP governor's Judicial Nominating Commission.
Ron Filipkowski noted on Twitter a blind quote by Florida-based Politico reporter Gary Fineout.
"They are not going to embarrass Ron DeSantis. Ron DeSantis is essentially the speaker of the House, the president of the Senate and the chief justice of the Supreme Court right now," a Republican legislator said.
Filipkowski noted, "there is a word for that."
"FL no longer has a functioning, separation of powers, checks and balances, Republic. The elected representatives of the party in power are so intimidated by the bully in the Governor’s mansion that we are now essentially an autocracy," he wrote.
It was not the first time he had been harshly critical of DeSantis.
"In less than 3 years, Desantis has corrupted nearly every institution in Florida," he alleged in October.
Also on Tuesday, The Bulwark published an op-ed by Filipkowski on how he has spent his time since resigning from the Judicial Nominating Commission in December 2020.
"For the past year, my team of three volunteers and I have immersed ourselves into monitoring the political right. We’ve attended rallies and events, monitored social media pages across multiple platforms, lurked in internet chatrooms, and watched countless shows and podcasts. The right-wing disinformation machine is powerful, effective and coordinated," he wrote. "It is filled with alternative facts and conspiracy theories about election fraud, COVID, vaccines, school policies, the border, foreign affairs, cryptocurrencies, and many, many other topics. They use fabricated 'studies,' doctored 'reports and journals' with dubious or anonymous sources, fake and deceptively edited videos."
He noted how GOP officials are increasingly getting their talking points from far-right media.
"As for the rest of America, neither the left, the center left, nor the Democratic party has any real coordinated effort to counter this right-wing ecosystem. Every week we watch as Republicans gather at huge conferences, rallies, seminars, and classes where candidates and activists are recruited and indoctrinated. Nothing like that is happening on the left," he explained. "And the truth is, the traditional media is constitutionally incapable of being a counter to the alternative ecosystem the right-wing has constructed."
Filipkowski, who was once the president of a Republican Club, urged the Democratic Party to take on the task of countering GOP information.
"So if the traditional media can’t do it, how about the Democratic party? Sadly, they’re not in the game in any way. Either Democrats fail to recognize what is happening, don’t understand it, or think that a handful of PACs and White House press conferences are sufficient to deal with it. Either way, they’re wrong. The DNC’s 'War Room' looks like a Victorian tea party compared to what Republicans do on a daily basis. It is shocking to watch both sides operate each day, and see how much more effective the GOP is at messaging," he wrote. "Social media has presented a unique challenge to American politics, spreading a virus of right-wing deception and disinformation. We need an effective, organized effort to use the same aspects of social media which have allowed this virus to thrive, to kill it."
Watch below.
Former DeSantis official declares Florida is ‘now essentially an autocracy’ www.youtube.com
Last week it was a deceptively-edited Biden clip claiming he surrendered on covid. Yesterday it was the lie below that went viral and is being repeated on their TV shows today. Both went unchallenged with no serious response. This must end.https://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1480753902559637504\u00a0\u2026— Ron Filipkowski (@Ron Filipkowski) 1641906306
