Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis is accepting responsibility for his campaign’s virulently anti-gay video that drew widespread criticism across party lines.
In a recent interview with Fox News, the flailing presidential candidate defended the video as an attack against Donald Trump and his previous ambivalence about transgender issues.
At the same time, DeSantis also said he’s never demeaned anybody, including members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Could’ve fooled us!
“Those are the two issues, I think they’re totally legitimate,” he said. “I don’t believe in demeaning anybody, and we have not done that since I’ve been governor.”
DeSantis’ track record, of course, proves otherwise. As Florida governor, he’s prohibited classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender ideology among all grade levels, banned gender-affirming care for minors and made it illegal for transgender people to use the public bathroom that corresponds with their gender ideology.
As a presidential candidate, he’s leaned heavily into homophobia, with the aforementioned video representing just the tip of the iceberg.
DeSantis’ wife, Casey, has released an anti-gay ad of her own.
“These things get shared or whatever — and look, I’m responsible for it, don’t get me wrong,” said DeSantis on Fox News. “But the idea that I was sitting there like ‘oh, share this video,’ no, it was a rapid response thing.”
As the New York Times reported, DeSantis’ campaign made the repugnant ad and then passed it along to an anonymous Twitter user. On Monday, Semafor added more context to DeSantis’ incendiary video operation, reporting the meme-filled clips emerged from a Signal channel populated with members of his staff.
Last week, DeSantis fired a staffer who retweeted a video with Nazi imagery.
That checks out!
Lol, so DeSantis canceled somebody? He must be going woke.
— Christopher Wiggins (@CWNewser) July 25, 2023
“guys, after checking the polls we’re gonna need to be 20% less openly nazi”
— Brendon (@3662brendon) July 25, 2023
The whole campaign is staffed by people who are way too online. Or, more than that: they are way too online, and it does not occur to them that there is anything wrong with this.
— C.A. Shoultz (@HarrierMagnus) July 26, 2023
DeSantis, who recently sat down for a brutal interview with Megyn Kelly, is trailing Trump by almost 40 points, according to a New York Times/Siena poll.
In fact, there isn’t a single coalition within the GOP that favors the gay-hating governor over the disgraced ex-president. From the NYT:
In the head-to-head matchup, Mr. Trump was far ahead of Mr. DeSantis among Republicans who accept transgender people as the gender they identify with, and among those who do not; among those who want to fight corporations that “promote woke left ideology,” and among those who prefer to stay out of what businesses do; among those who want to send more military and economic aid to Ukraine, and among those who do not; among those who want to keep Social Security and Medicare benefits as they are, and among those who want to take steps to reduce the budget deficit.
Tough break! DeSantis is so lost, even Caitlyn Jenner is hitting back at him.
In tacit acknowledgment of his failings, DeSantis recently fired staff members and reportedly “rebooted” his crappy campaign. But donors still aren’t happy.
Rolling Stone reports DeSantis’ financial backers still think he’s spending too much money on stupid members.
In an effort to dismiss allegations that he’s terminally online, DeSantis has recently been schmoozing with GOP voters at more traditional campaign venues.
So far, he’s chided a young girl for drinking an icee, and appeared miserable talking to people at every turn.
We wouldn’t expect anything less from a man whose personality was once compared to a “piece of paper.”
AWKWARD.
— Matthew Longfellow (@Longfellow_TV) July 28, 2023
Weirdo
— Kyle (@GodzillaKyle) July 27, 2023
He’s so bitter ! Lighten up buttercup
— 🏳️🌈🌹WINTER🌹🏳️⚧️ (@GenZWinterr) July 29, 2023
Do you think he’s actually drinking that beer or is it just a prop?
— Crazy Fenak (@CrazyFenaker) July 30, 2023
DeSantis has the personality of a throw rug. A campaign “reboot” isn’t going to help!
— Ramon Caudle (@UrbanistaRamon) July 29, 2023
I remember when Data had his first laugh
— reignGod ☔ (@r3ignG0d) July 29, 2023
With the first Republican debate roughly three weeks away, DeSantis is running out of time to change the narrative around his futile presidential quest.
We’re not holding our breath…
jax florida
So now she’s desperate enough to try to pander to gay people a little bit. Florida Karen is having a tough week.
Kangol2
DeFascist and his Everglades Evita wife are absolutely vile, and only his dupes will buy this revisionary nonsense. Do us all a favor and go away!
Brian
Several prominent Republicans — some of them still sitting in office — have trafficked minors, raped their staff, and even raped children. They’re heterosexuals, though, so in the DeSantis world, it’s fine.
Ron DeSantis and his staff have repeatedly said that ALL gay men are “groomers,” by definition. But something like 99.99% of gay men have zero interest in raping children. Ron and his trashy wife deserve to be assassinated. Add Elise Stefanik to that list too, because she’s obsessed with both the “groomer” and “pedo” labels for *literally* every gay man on the planet.
Kangol2
OK, I revile DeFascist and his wife and that phony opportunist Elise Stefanik, but calling for them to be assassinated (harmed or killed in any way) is beyond the pale. Seriously. When you start calling for violence like this it quickly spirals out of control and history has given us more than enough examples of the dangers of this.
dbmcvey
Hmm… so maybe homophobia, transphobia and racism aren’t a sure path to the White House?
jcool
maybe he should actually drink that whole beer. couldn’t hurt
inbama
Any candidate like DeSantis who can read the detailed charges against Trump (which can be viewed at the NYTimes) and lacks the integrity to condemn the lying POS or promises to pardon him and his co-conspirators does not deserve to be president.
Every politician who still supports Trump after this must be voted out.
Kangol2
Yes. But sad to say, Don the Con is now leading among White voters and is nearly tied among Latino voters, bringing us the nightmare scenario of a statistical tie with Biden. It seems Don the Con can commit and admit to crimes publicly and shamelessly, and yet he still holds onto a majority of White voters. Why?
–He left the US in an economic shambles, with MILLIONS of jobs lost and high unemployment, creating 2 years of economic crisis that followed.
–He let Covid-19 rage out of control, with nearly 1 million dead Americans before he left, and did so even though he acknowledged secretly that Covid-19 would be a horrific nightmare!
–His foreign policy was basically Putin’s foreign policy all over the globe.
–His trade war with China was a failure.
–He tried to gut NATO and inveigled to have Zelenskyy smear Biden, denying him already appropriated weapons. (He was impeached the first time for this.)
–He gutted every pro-environment rule or regulation that Obama and even W Bush had put into place.
–He crammed the federal courts with extreme right-wing, often anti-LGBTQ judges.
–He filled his Cabinet and federal agencies with cranks and in some cases, outright corrupt anti-government menaces.
–He created nonstop chaos and fomented domestic violence for four years, openly supporting White supremacists and neo-Nazis.
–And he capped this and other things off by attempting a failed coup on January 6, 2023! ‘
Why are so many people still supporting this man?
inbama
DeSantis had all the issues, but he miscalculated thinking he could take Trump’s voters without taking on Trump. His deference to Trump simply made Trump look stronger – and the stronger candidate to take on Biden.
Reagan taught Republicans that the federal government was evil. And now, with all these well-deserved indictments, they’ll happily enbrace Trump as David vs, Goliath.
Invader7
DeSantis has those vacant, soul less Hitler like psycho eyes !! Be afraid !! VERY afraid. Cause he’s nuts. He’s ruining Florida. And he wants to ruin America !!