OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is taking his reelection campaign up a notch.
As the midterm elections rapidly approach, the GOP governor is declaring that “freedom is here to stay” in Florida following a vow by his likely Democratic opponent Rep. Charlie Crist — a former Florida governor himself and former Republican.
Crist has recently warned voters that he is open to restricting personal behavior by imposing mask mandates, Breitbart News reported.
A new ad from DeSantis continues the governor’s previous them of the Sunshine State being “America’s liberty outpost” in a country replete with censorship, woke corporations, and left-wing attempts to openly sexualize children.
“America has long been the world’s bastion of freedom. Now, Florida is our nation’s hope,” says the narrator of the ad.
“When other states shut people down, Florida lifted people up. We make decisions based on facts, not fear. But some want to take it all away. We cannot stop fighting,” the narrator continues. “This November, let’s show the world freedom is here to stay.”
The new ad comes about a week after the DeSantis campaign released a digital spot that shows the governor reading several letters of support from Floridians who appreciated his open-for-business positions during the recent pandemic, including keeping kids in school.
“.@RonDeSantisFL has received thousands of letters from across the state and around the world thanking him for his leadership. And I can tell you this, he’s only begun to fight,” tweeted Florida’s first lady Casey DeSantis in a post containing the ad.
.@RonDeSantisFL has received thousands of letters from across the state and around the world thanking him for his leadership.
And I can tell you this, he's only begun to fight. pic.twitter.com/ne2DucdToe
— Casey DeSantis (@CaseyDeSantis) August 3, 2022
Breitbart News added:
Floridians will know which Democrat will challenge DeSantis following the August 23 primary, but Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) appears to be the Democrat frontrunner. He has adamantly opposed DeSantis’s freedom-first leadership style, even deeming it a “grim day” after DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill, which bars classroom discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity for children in kindergarten through third grade.
It's a grim day for Florida. Today especially, I want our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters in Florida and across the country to know that they are loved and will always be welcomed in the Sunshine State. pic.twitter.com/ktwbJklZVe
— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) March 28, 2022
Earlier this year, Crist also made headlines throughout the state after telling supporters that he would be “open” to forced masking if the “scientists” recommended it.
“I would be open to doing what scientists advise — not political scientists,” Crist said at a campaign event in Wilton Manors, Fla. “Yes. I just read an article this morning. I’m glad you brought it up.”
Earlier this week, DeSantis responded to the FBI’s raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
“The raid of MAL [Mar-a-Lago] is another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents, while people like Hunter Biden get treated with kid gloves,” he said on Twitter. “Now the Regime is getting another 87k IRS agents to wield against its adversaries? Banana Republic.”
The raid of MAL is another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents, while people like Hunter Biden get treated with kid gloves. Now the Regime is getting another 87k IRS agents to wield against its adversaries? Banana Republic.
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) August 9, 2022
Other Florida Republicans weighed in as well and were equally upset.
“The @FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago is incredibly concerning, especially given the Biden admin’s history of going after parents & other political opponents. This is 3rd World country stuff. We need answers NOW. The FBI must explain what they were doing today & why,” Sen. Rick Scott, himself a former governor, said on Twitter.
“The FBI isn’t doing anything about the groups vandalizing Catholic Churches, firebombing Pro-Life groups or threatening Supreme Court justices But they find time to raid Mar A Lago,” Sen. Marco Rubio added.
“Biden is playing with fire by using a document dispute to get the @TheJusticeDept to persecute a likely future election opponent Because one day what goes around is going to come around And then we become Nicaragua under Ortega,” he added.
