DeSantis Is Saying that He Is Going to Take Away Rights from Minority Groups
Governor's recent anti-LGBTQ ad "makes absolutely no sense," according to Republican who served two House speakers
Florida Gov Ron DeSantis is making the stripping away of rights from minority populations a central hallmark of his campaign for the Republican nomination for president.
However, ad directed against LGBTQ Americans which the DeSantis shared recently on social media is a mistake, according to a prominent Republican strategist who worked for two speakers of the House.
DeSantis, who is distantly trailing Donald Trump for the nomination, has made culture issues — especially taking away the rights of the LGBTQ community in Florida — central to his campaign.
DeSantis, in recent weeks, has appeared laser-focused on Trump and trying to appear more conservative and to the right of the former president, according to Laura Barrón-López is the White House correspondent for the PBS NewsHour and a CNN political analyst.
“We have seen him issue immigration policies where he mentions the word ‘invasion’ multiple times. We saw recently this video that his campaign promoted, that was just staunchly anti-LGBTQ, anti-transgender, and he is essentially trying to say that he, not Donald Trump, is someone who is going to take away rights from these minority groups and that he will do it more effectively than the former president,” Barrón-López said. “And the former president’s defense to that is, ‘Look at the Supreme Court that I created and the justices that I put on the bench, and the results of that which we have seen, which is Roe v. Wade being overturned and the more recent decisions this past week on affirmative action and on the weakening on LGBTQ rights.”
The recent DeSantis ad was produced independently but shared across social media by an official DeSantis campaign Twitter account.
“It’s kind of thing that you would expect from a fringe candidate, not the person who is second in the race, you know, the most notable alternative to Donald Trump. I don’t think it’s good politics,” said Brendan Buck, who worked for Republican House speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan. “Look, the Republican Party has had a bad history on these issues, but I’m fairly confident we’ve moved forward quite a bit. What Ron DeSantis is talking about is not the future of the Republican Party.
“The one caveat that I will say that maybe there is some strategy here for Ron DeSantis, is Ron DeSantis' entire brand has been built around making enemies, getting people on the left not to like him. If I’m looking for a rationale for this, it's that he was throwing out more red meat to stir up controversy to remind people that he’s made a lot of enemies on the left,” Buck added. “Who your enemies are is a currency in the Republican Party today, so it might be what he's up to. But long-term politics — someone who's trying to make the case that he is a credible, electable alternative to Donald Trump — it makes absolutely no sense.”
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