Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis’ presidential campaign is going so poorly, the gay-hating Florida governor is trying to walk back aspects of his anti-LGBTQ+ record, which has been the cornerstone of his campaign thus far.
In a recent interview with Fox News host Shannon Bream, DeSantis, who’s no longer even the clear No. 2 among the Republican field after Nikki Haley has begun surging in the polls, pushed back against the notion his administration is banning books.
“Well, first of all, there’s not a single book that’s banned in the state of Florida,” he lied. “That is a media hoax.”
Ah yes, the good ol’ media hoax. If that’s the case, then the Florida Department of Education is perpetrating the same alleged smear. A report from the DoE shows about 300 books have, in fact, been removed from schools since 2022.
DeSantis is playing a pedantic game of semantics. While the books in question aren’t banned from the state, they aren’t allowed in school libraries.
Many of the banished books focus on LGBTQ+ issues and promote visibility. Never one to stray too far from his anti-LGBTQ+ message, DeSantis also talked about lessons on gender identity being forced upon kindergarteners.
“We can’t, as a country, succeed if kindergarteners are being taught their gender is a choice or that they can change, they were born in the wrong body. That’s just wrong,” he said.
That is completely made up, by the way. There is no kindergarten curriculum in America that teaches this.
One could also say it’s wrong for DeSantis to stay in the race, because he has no chance in hell of winning. A new poll out of Nevada, an early primary state, shows “Meatball Ron” is garnering barely 20% of Donald Trump‘s support (65% to 13%).
For comparison’s sake, DeSantis was polling over 20% in Nevada this summer.
The numbers are even worse for DeSantis in Michigan, a true bellwether state. Trump currently leads him by 50 points among Republican voters, 63% to 13%.
DeSantis also now trails Nikki Haley in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
It’s already been another dismal week for RDS. On Monday, a court ruled Florida must release its COVID data, after keeping the numbers under wraps since June 2021.
Deliciously, the state’s first out gay Latino lawmaker, Carlos Guillermo Smith, filed the successful suit. (Smith first took office months after the Pulse nightclub shooting, and is now running for state senate.)
“@CarlosGSmith…sued the state in August 2021 after submitting a public records request to the Department of Health seeking detailed COVID-19 information in his home county as the cases of the Delta variant spiked.” https://t.co/PY1vLxRBrG
— Carlos Guillermo Smith (@CarlosGSmith) October 9, 2023
Kinda of love when bad things happen to bad people.
— Brian Manning (@Boxdonkey17) October 9, 2023
How about holding DeSantis responsible for the thousands who died?
— Jandel (@Jandel237) October 9, 2023
He cares only for himself I’m so happy this is out in the open
— Cindy Sanders (@sanders_cindy) October 9, 2023
That’s more bad news for DeSantis’ futile presidential campaign. He often touts his record during the pandemic, even though it’s largely a myth.
The guy is so desperate for oxygen right now that he’s even granting interviews to MSNBC! How the mighty have fallen… literally in this case. The longer DeSantis stays in, the more ground he loses.
No number of resets can save this mess.
dbmcvey
Hmmm… Maybe hate and endless culture wars isn’t the winner he thought it would be.
RoyM
The majority of Floridians are just such bottom feeders, and they’re so proud of it. Florida is the WT capitol of the U.S. (well, maybe sharing the title with WV)!!
mildredspierce
Great! Let Rachel Maddow get him to make funny faces. Worth the watch.
ZzBomb
I for 1 agree the persistent insistence that things these people don’t like is a “media hoax” has worn very thin and is very old. As well as the “sexualizing children” nonsense from the very people who have the support of those who actually sexualize children: priests.
cuteguy
I’m so happy that Nikki Haley is starting to beat pudding fingers bc the GQP are as much (if not more) misogynistic as they are homophobes. Not to mention, racist. And xenophobic. They are guaranteeing Trumpf be the KKK (I mean GQP) nominee and will lose to grandpa Biden. I really wish Gavin Newsom would run bc he’s a hot Zaddy and would easily win a general election against Trumpf
Baron Wiseman
@cuteguy
Does it matter that Gavin Newsom is destroying my state of California? Shouldn’t that count for something?
inbama
Newsom is moving to the center.
Last week he vetoed a bill that would’ve favored the parent who wanted their child transed in custody battles.
inbama
Just came back to add, today Newsom signed a bill that makes it easier for authorities to compel treatment for people with mental illness or addiction issues. The new law “reforms the state’s conservatorship system, expands the definition of ‘gravely disabled’ to include people who are unable to provide themselves basic needs such as food and shelter due to an untreated mental illness or unhealthy drugs and alcohol use. Local governments say current state laws leave their hands tied if a person refuses to receive help.” This is just a start to alleviate the homeless problem, but it’s a good start.
mailliw110
Well Barren, Gavin isn’t running around different states using Florida tax payer paid transportation. He didn’t change state law so he could be another loser presidential candidate. He didn’t pick a fight with the states largest employer. AND HE DOESN”T HAVE A FREAKISH LAUGH!!
Baron Wiseman
@inbama
Moving to the center?
Last week, Democrat Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 665 into law that would allow tiny tots as young as 12 to give their own consent — without parental involvement — for mutilating and dangerous transgender surgeries and drug therapies.
Twelve year olds making life-altering surgeries without parental involvement is not moving to the center!
Baron Wiseman
@mailliw110
How would Newsom “run around different states using Florida tax payer paid transportation?”
You still didn’t address my question about Newsom and his record of incompetence in San Francisco and then as governor of California. Los Angeles has changed so much since I moved here. Unfortunately, not for the better.
inbama
Unless there’s more to it than I’m reading here, AB665 is access to MENTAL HEALTH only. It’s not putting kids into the gender factories.
youthlaw DOT org/resources/californias-ab-665-equitable-access-mental-health-services#:~:text=AB%20665%20would%20give%20all,consent%2C%20regardless%20of%20insurance%20type.
Kangol2
The fascist czar of anti-woke, whatever that is, is finally waking up to the fact that his Kulturkampf is a failing strategy. The rest of the US doesn’t want to turn into Flaw-ida he created. No thanks, Ron, go finger that pudding!
Baron Wiseman
@Kangol2
“The rest of the US doesn’t want to turn into Flaw-ida he created.”
Well, not really. Considering more people are moving to Florida than most any other state.