MSNBC’s Johnson: Florida’s ‘Crystal Meth and Alligators’ Reputation Will Hurt DeSantis

MSNBC guest host Jason Johnson said Tuesday on “The ReidOut” that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) will be hurt by Florida’s “crystal meth and alligator” reputation if he runs for president.

Johnson said, “In my view, there are three states that you can’t really run from if you’re trying to win across America. You run from New York. You’re too crazy. You’re a liberal. You run from California, you’re too crazy, you’re liberal, and you’re trying to make sure I can’t get plastic straws. You run from Florida. It’s all crystal meth and alligators, right? I mean, that’s what people think. And I’m not saying that’s the case. I’m saying those are sort of the national reputations of those states. So, when you see Ron Desantis running and claiming that he’s going do for America what he’s done in Florida, it seems like that’d be a problem.

Monday in New York, DeSantis said, “So what have we done in Florida? When they were talking about defunding police and slashing budgets, we said, ‘Not on my watch. As much as I’m proud that Florida is doing well, I want the country to do well. I want all of these communities to do well.”

Johnson said, “Now, Kurt, that may make sense in some context. He can talk about policy, right? But are those policies the first things that everybody thinks about coming out of Florida?”

Political commentator Kurt Bardella said, “No, we must have entered some sort of quantum realm of Ron DeSantis thinks the entirety of the United States of America wants to spend most of their time banning books, that they want to spend their time dealing with mass shootings if they want to spend their time ignoring the catastrophic impacts of climate change, which by the way, will hit the state of Florida first – that’s not a recipe for a good national conversation, a healthy national conversation.”

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