‘Boldness is your friend’: DeSantis boasts successes in campaign-style book tour stop
As Gov. Ron DeSantis took the stage Wednesday a short distance from a likely 2024 opponent’s Doral golf resort, he berated “wokeness” in media, business and politics, a common theme in his South Florida book tour stop.
“We refuse to bow down to the woke mob because this state is where woke goes to die,” he said.
DeSantis reflected on his book “The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival” in an event hosted at Fire Tower Miami by And to the Republic, a group that promotes conservative policy and, according to Politico, hosted DeSantis’ recent speeches to law enforcement officers in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia. The book is the requisite precursor to a likely 2024 presidential campaign, which DeSantis is expected to announce this spring.
The governor’s stop could help set his potential campaign’s foundation in Florida’s most populated county, which he flipped in the November elections. His appearance was no more than 10 minutes away from his ally-turned-rival’s turf: Trump National Doral Miami.
READ MORE: Why the unwritten parts of DeSantis’ book are among its most interesting tidbits
In the book, DeSantis lays out how the U.S. should be governed in an era of grievance politics and partisan polarization, heaping scorn on institutions like the “administrative state,” “woke corporations” and “corporate media.” He rarely mentions former President Donald Trump — who endorsed the former U.S. representative’s 2018 bid for governor but now views the governor as an upstart — and offers a glimpse into his origin story as a working-class baseball star from Dunedin who attended Yale and Harvard Law School and later served in the Navy.
On Wednesday, DeSantis touted his administration’s record in educational freedom, economic growth and COVID-19 response. Though he initially shut down much of the state in the early days of the pandemic, he reopened Florida early and later opposed vaccine passports, mask mandates and closing down businesses.
It’s why the peninsula, he said, became known as the “free state of Florida.“
“So the lesson is boldness is your friend,” he said. “[People] are sick of these typical wishy washy politicians who don’t do anything in office.”
The governor pointed to policies he advocated for, such as ending Disney’s self-governing status. He quipped about how he married his wife, Casey DeSantis, who comes from a family of Disney fanatics, at the park about 15 years ago.
“The most powerful company in the state has really run the state for 60 years until I became governor,” DeSantis said. “Now there’s a new sheriff in town.”
His reasoning for targeting Disney — woke messaging.
“They’re going off in this direction with the young kids, to say that it’s appropriate to have some second-grader be told by their teacher that they may have been born in the wrong body,” he said, using language that some critics say targets the transgender community. “They wanted to inject into programming some of this stuff. I grew up watching this stuff. It’s not something that parents were worried about.”
DeSantis reiterated his administration’’s commitment to supporting police and removing public officials like district attorneys funded by “left-wing causes.” He also mentioned plans to relieve tolls as well as taxes on baby products and over-the-counter pet medications.
He spoke at length about education in the state, firing shots at teachers unions, critical race theory and what he called the “pornographic” materials in public K-12 schools. He also vowed to fight universities for encouraging an “ideological worldview” and “social and political activism.”
“Do they get to do whatever they want and pose a political agenda regardless of elections?” he said. “At the end of the day, we’re saving academia from itself.”
As the speech wrapped up, the governor boasted about the book’s No. 1 ranking on Amazon. The audience cheered as he encouraged them to keep up the momentum because they’re “going to see lots of wins” this legislative session.
“When I talk about ... the courage to be free, I’m just pointing out that leadership in this day and age is not cost free,” he said. “You stand for the right things. ... They’re going to come at you. They’re going to smear you.”
This story was originally published March 1, 2023 at 11:40 AM.
