Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Tuesday attributed much of Florida’s success to rejecting the groupthink narrative over the last two years and vowed that, under his leadership, the policies of President Biden — policies embraced by his opponent Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) — will not be imposed on the Sunshine State.
It is not enough to just have good policies, DeSantis said during a press conference in Fort Myers, where he received an endorsement from the group Everglades Trust.
“We’ve shown the leadership necessary to get all this done, and that’s really the most important commodity,” he said, explaining that it is not enough to be a governor who has good policy.
[Because] if you don’t have the willingness to lead, if you don’t have the willingness to get out in front on issues, then you’re not going to ultimately accomplish what needs to be accomplished,” he said, reminding supporters that he was never interested in polling, opting to simply follow through with what he promised to do.
“So we have, I think it’s like a little more than 60 days away before our November election,” he said, noting the massive gains Florida Republicans have seen since he took office, as registered Republicans now outnumber Democrats in the state by over 267,000 voters, according to the governor.
“I do acknowledge some of that is because people look at Biden and they’re like, I don’t want anything to do with that,” DeSantis said, describing Florida has a “place where sanity prevailed when the world went mad.”
“We’re not gonna let Biden’s policies be imposed on the state of Florida,” he promised. “We’re gonna make sure that we keep the state free and keep the state thriving.”
If anything, DeSantis contended, these past four years prove what kind of governor he is, as things could have been very different for Florida residents if Andrew Gillum won the election four years ago.
“But these are very important because just think, four years ago when we had our governor’s race–a very close race–we knew it was important because they there were different philosophies at stake, but we didn’t know there was gonna be a pandemic,” he said.
“We certainly didn’t think a governor would lock kids out of school for a year and a half or do all these crazy things, and yet that would have happened in this state, you know, had we not been successful,” he warned.
“My message is just, you know, people enjoy being in Florida [and] probably people are more proud of being in Florida now than when I was a kid growing up,” he said, warning Floridians, however, to not take any of the Florida freedom for granted, because things can change “very quickly.”
DeSantis ultimately warned that many of these leftists politicians will unleash after the election, letting their true colors show by coming after freedom yet again.
“So in Florida, that type of policy, that type of view, is dead on arrival. We’re not gonna let it happen here. We’re gonna make sure we keep the state prospering. We’re gonna make sure we keep this state a law and order state. We’re gonna make sure we keep this state dedicated to educating kids, not indoctrinating kids,” he said, adding that they will also “make sure that we deliver tax relief with all that with that big surplus.”
DeSantis made the remarks as the midterm election heats up between himself and his challenger and Biden ally, Rep. Crist. Notably Crist is in lockstep with President Biden, recently praising the president for having the “courage” to attack MAGA Republicans.
“God love him. God love him, and I do,” Crist said. “And he’s told it straight. Democracy is at stake. … Our freedoms are at stake. And the President laid it out, and he couldn’t hold back and I’m so damn proud of him for it.”
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