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Liberals Giddy Over Hurricane Ian Because It Might Hurt Ron DeSantis

Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown  |  September 27, 2022 12:30 PM

It's no secret that the mainstream media and liberal pundit class are not fans of Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. From the day he took office, through COVID, and amid Biden's border crisis, the media has never resisted an opportunity — however frivolous — to attack the man known to conservatives as "America's Governor." 

The media seethed as thousands of weary blue state residents fled from New York and California to Florida's ample freedom, lied through their teeth about Florida's parental rights law, and screeched "Nazi tactics!" when DeSantis gave some illegal immigrants the chance to see how America's elites live on Martha's Vineyard. But now, even the media has found another low with their anti-DeSantis attacks: salivating over the chance for a hurricane to devastate Florida and make its governor look bad. 

Politico ran a screed early Tuesday morning — "DeSantis faces the true test of any Florida governor" — noting that "DeSantis spent his first term becoming one of the most influential Republicans in the country" before barely hiding its excitement in saying "But DeSantis still hasn't faced one of the toughest challenges a Florida leader can encounter: a hurricane."

As Florida's Voice pointed out, the attempt to gin up ill-will toward DeSantis is based on a falsehood, as DeSantis has faced a hurricane before Ian:

Hurricane Sally made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane, causing flooding, storm surge, and wind across coastal Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle, the U.S. National Weather Service said.

At the time, DeSantis tackled the crisis, having declared a state of emergency for a plethora of counties that were expected to be impacted in mid-September 2020.

Politico's report continues:

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The hurricane is on track to make landfall in the state just six weeks ahead of the November elections and, depending on how well the governor responds to the potentially catastrophic storm, DeSantis may emerge more popular or open himself up to criticism.

Though no governor will frame hurricane responses in political terms, storms shaped the legacies of former Republican Govs. Jeb Bush and Rick Scott, both of whom dealt with multiple major weather events. While no elected official wishes for a major natural disaster, hurricanes offer almost unlimited access to free national media, a huge boost to any governor’s political fortunes.

Then Rachel Vindman decided a looming natural disaster was a good time to attack DeSantis, because of course she couldn't let a natural disaster occur without using it as a political weapon.

After taking quite a bit of heat for her timing, Vindman meekly added a reply that only doubled down on her anti-DeSantis attack. 'Never let a hurricane go to waste' is apparently an update to Democrats' usual embrace of crises in order to advance their goals.

Meanwhile, the looney tunes over at Occupy Democrats are arguing that Florida doesn't deserve any assistance from Biden because DeSantis is the governor — someone the White House said Biden hadn't called ahead of Ian — but claimed Biden is totally on top of things.

Charlie Crist, the Democrat challenging DeSantis in November's midterms, opportunistically attacked the governor on Monday while Ian churned toward Florida saying "Ron DeSantis is the worst property insurance Governor in Florida history, period," even though DeSantis just signed a special session bill to put $2 billion toward reinsurance in order to help prevent companies from going under.

A problem with the latest volley of attacks against DeSantis is that the governor has been out in front of this hurricane from the start. From declaring emergencies early, to mobilizing state resources to ensure fuel and supplies are available, to suspending tolls to make it easier for Floridians to evacuate, DeSantis has been doing as much as fast as his state can move to prepare. What's more, DeSantis has had numerous press conferences with other state authorities to keep his state's residents up-to-date on what's happening, how they should prepare, and what resources are available to them. 

Meanwhile at the federal level, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Monday that Biden had not spoken to DeSantis about the hurricane to see how FEMA or other agencies could help. And it took until Tuesday afternoon — after Hurricane Ian cleared Cuba's coast and its outer bands were beginning to hit the Florida Keys — for the White House to offer an update on how the Biden administration was preparing to respond in Florida when the FEMA administrator joined Jean-Pierre in the briefing room.

So while mainstream journalists and Democrat pundits (is there a difference anymore?) circle like vultures while more concerned about the damage Hurricane Ian will do to Ron DeSantis politically than their fellow Americans' livelihoods, DeSantis continues to prepare his state. 

Editor's Note: If you or a loved one are in the path of Hurricane Ian, get the latest information on evacuations and preparedness from Florida's Division of Emergency Management here.