They're worried about him. When things get into the thick of it for the 2024 primaries, DeSantis Derangement Syndrome might rival the mental illness that engulfed the press during Donald Trump's presidency. I could be wrong, but the media has been gunning for DeSantis for months. They've also peddled fake news about him. And at every turn, the Florida Republican delivers a smackdown to these corrupt journalists. He's just as good as Trump in that regard, maybe not as bombastic, but it gets the job done. The latest comes from Politico, which alleged that DeSantis was funding critical race theory in the Sunshine State (via The Federalist):
Politico was forced to update a story after baselessly implying that the Florida Department of Education hired a consulting firm for services promoting critical race theory.
[...]
Bryan Griffin, a deputy press secretary for DeSantis, called the hit piece a “bogus story” and confirmed to The Federalist that “there is absolutely zero CRT work funded by the state of Florida.”
Before publishing the story, Politico reporter Matt Dixon questioned Griffin about a list of contracts between MGT Consulting and the Florida Department of Education, which Griffin noted were “unannotated.” “Our office couldn’t possibly speculate about each of these contracts, nor assume the intended purpose of each engagement,” Griffin responded to Politico.
“We especially aren’t interested in speculating under the assumptions you presented based on work they have done in completely different states,” he added. The Politico article cited MGT’s work in creating a “Racial Equity Plan” for the city of Golden, Colorado, and its contract for a study in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Politico also claimed the firm has “done extensive work for Florida government entities, including using ‘race and gender’ data that was ‘used to shape policy designed to increase diversity in [state university] institutions.'” That was apparently in reference to a data project MGT conducted for the Board of Regents of Florida’s State University System, not the Department of Education. “Collecting data based on demographics is much different from pushing an ideology like critical race theory,” Griffin told The Federalist. “It would be false to say that’s CRT because it’s not.”
[...]
In an email to Griffin, Dixon revealed his purpose in pursuing the non-story, noting that “the [DeSantis] administration has in the past defended instances of people supporting philosophies it does not. … Wasn’t sure if this was another example of that.”
That's just funny. Who would believe this trash? No one.
The media's pervasive lies in the Trump era have rendered this institution laughably unreliable. They're all liberal Democratic operatives. They do pick sides, so act accordingly. Guy had a great post about why the left's hate for DeSantis is scorching in its intensity. One of the reasons is that the man appears to unite both the pro-Trump and Trump-skeptic wings of the GOP. Donald Trump is still popular with the base, however. DeSantis has fended off constant attacks on his COVID policy, which was better than New York's. DeSantis had the most vulnerable in his state vaccinated first when the COVID shots rolled out. Then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had a policy that killed them. Even Bill Maher, who now goes after his side as much as the Republicans, noted the apparent differences between New York and Florida regarding COVID, adding that DeSantis read the medical literature on a rolling basis to form policy.
DeSantis has overseen a booming economy, with the state on the verge of inheriting a considerable budget surplus. Florida is booming. New York and blue state America are economically shipwrecked post-pandemic. Trump will probably run in 2024, so that's another debate concerning these two men.