Florida governor and raging anti-education autocrat Ron DeSantis is still running for president. In recent weeks, the DeSantis campaign has run into some predictable problems: People don’t really care for his campaign, and it’s hard to generate the kind of money needed to keep a big campaign going when you aren’t nearly as popular among your constituents as the other guy.
Recent polling has shown that DeSantis’ posturing as a more savage version of Donald Trump has not worked. Never fear! The guy that showed the world that if you attack historically marginalized children and participate in Jim Crow-era voter suppression you will still get Republican votes in Florida has a solution: more of the same, but with a little bit of a DeSantis spin. DeSantis came out this week offering up the same things that pass for policy in the Republican Party: blaming “elites” while offering up nothing more than cuts to programs relied upon by people who aren’t elites. However, DeSantis is adding his own special version of QAnon-adjacent rhetoric as a signifier that he’s someone the MAGA base can count on.
During a barbecue in Rye, New Hampshire, DeSantis offered up a bit of the old ultraviolence when boasting about what he would do to the “deep state.” DeSantis told the audience he would start “slitting throats on day one.” What does that mean? I guess he’s not so much promising public executions as he is hinting at the kind of assassination techniques conspiracy theorists usually attribute to vague “deep state” actors?
RELATED STORY: DeSantis shamelessly tries to take credit for something Democrats built
According to The Hill, this isn’t the first time DeSantis has used this harsh rhetoric. A few weeks ago, the Florida man spoke to Real America’s Voice (you can tell how far right this outlet is by how “real” and “America” it is) for an interview. Speaking about the need to completely change the Department of Defense (where this mythical “deep state” resides), DeSantis explained:
But the deep state isn’t the only target of his conspiracy theories and threats. DeSantis recently unveiled his 10-point “Declaration of Economic Independence” plan. It is basically the same plan as Trump’s. The Florida governor blamed big tech for the financial strains being experienced by the middle class. But before you go and call DeSantis a pinko, it is important to know that he wasn’t saying cutting taxes for the wealthy, taking away consumer protections, and not holding the richest corporations accountable helped lead to growing economic disparity.
No, DeSantis blames middle-class economic struggles on COVID-19 lockdowns.
This version of MAGA-mollifying is the new normal for Republican candidates. The days of being able to simply say you don’t believe women should have rights (while not expecting to be held accountable) are over. DeSantis is simply one of the grosser iterations of this phenomenon.
RELATED STORIES:
DeSantis' entire primary strategy has been upended. His new one is fatally flawed
It seems many of the 19 Floridians arrested by DeSantis' election Gestapo were told they could vote
DeSantis was so busy out-Trumping Trump that he killed his campaign
Recent polling has shown that DeSantis’ posturing as a more savage version of Donald Trump has not worked. Never fear! The guy that showed the world that if you attack historically marginalized children and participate in Jim Crow-era voter suppression you will still get Republican votes in Florida has a solution: more of the same, but with a little bit of a DeSantis spin. DeSantis came out this week offering up the same things that pass for policy in the Republican Party: blaming “elites” while offering up nothing more than cuts to programs relied upon by people who aren’t elites. However, DeSantis is adding his own special version of QAnon-adjacent rhetoric as a signifier that he’s someone the MAGA base can count on.
During a barbecue in Rye, New Hampshire, DeSantis offered up a bit of the old ultraviolence when boasting about what he would do to the “deep state.” DeSantis told the audience he would start “slitting throats on day one.” What does that mean? I guess he’s not so much promising public executions as he is hinting at the kind of assassination techniques conspiracy theorists usually attribute to vague “deep state” actors?
RELATED STORY: DeSantis shamelessly tries to take credit for something Democrats built
According to The Hill, this isn’t the first time DeSantis has used this harsh rhetoric. A few weeks ago, the Florida man spoke to Real America’s Voice (you can tell how far right this outlet is by how “real” and “America” it is) for an interview. Speaking about the need to completely change the Department of Defense (where this mythical “deep state” resides), DeSantis explained:
But the deep state isn’t the only target of his conspiracy theories and threats. DeSantis recently unveiled his 10-point “Declaration of Economic Independence” plan. It is basically the same plan as Trump’s. The Florida governor blamed big tech for the financial strains being experienced by the middle class. But before you go and call DeSantis a pinko, it is important to know that he wasn’t saying cutting taxes for the wealthy, taking away consumer protections, and not holding the richest corporations accountable helped lead to growing economic disparity.
No, DeSantis blames middle-class economic struggles on COVID-19 lockdowns.
This version of MAGA-mollifying is the new normal for Republican candidates. The days of being able to simply say you don’t believe women should have rights (while not expecting to be held accountable) are over. DeSantis is simply one of the grosser iterations of this phenomenon.
RELATED STORIES:
DeSantis' entire primary strategy has been upended. His new one is fatally flawed
It seems many of the 19 Floridians arrested by DeSantis' election Gestapo were told they could vote
DeSantis was so busy out-Trumping Trump that he killed his campaign