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Republican Governor Receives Raucous Welcome at a Concert, and the Left Isn't Happy

Guy Benson
Guy Benson  |  October 31, 2022 1:01 PM

Country music star Luke Bryan played a concert in Jacksonville, Florida, over the weekend, and in the process of announcing his aim of raising money for Hurricane Ian relief efforts, he welcomed Gov. Ron DeSantis onto the stage. Some progressive and left-leaning fans and social media whiners rushed to register their disapproval. I somehow doubt Bryan or DeSantis much care about the carping, but the carping was real. 

Behold, the whinging: 

Country star Luke Bryan apparently did not strike the right chord with liberal Twitter users after bringing out Gov. Ron DeSantis during his Jacksonville show on Friday — and was quickly met with disdain…. Opinions on the decision, and the manner in which Bryan brought out the governor, were quickly shared and dissected on Twitter, with one user writing, "Look I understand this is for a hurricane relief from the devastation that happened in Florida I can understand that. But.... when you do this 10 DAYS before the midterms it's nothing but a political stunt. You could've done this after the midterms. Shame on you Luke Bryan."… Many users ridiculed Bryan for his choice to bring DeSantis on stage. One user tweeted, "Sad and seriously disappointing. F--k you Luke Bryan" while another stated, "Note to self: cancel Luke Bryan."

That Fox News round-up is just random people complaining, but you know who didn't seem at all bothered by the governor's surprise cameo? The people who attended the concert. This was quite a reception: 


Team DeSantis clearly loved it, and it looks like the governor had a pretty eventful schedule in Jacksonville: 


What's amusing about the crankiness from online leftists is that they get offended by any Republican figure having any cultural clout or relevance. They believe that's what their side is entitled to, exclusively. And they're typically right. Conservatives deal with cultural leftists routinely boosting Democrats and various causes. Harry Styles boosted Robert O'Rourke in Texas. Latto brought Stacey Abrams out on stage at the Lizzo concert in Georgia (with some, um, interesting optics). Dave Matthews tours with Democrats to help draw campaign rally crowds. It's what they do. But when even a tiny fraction of that phenomenon cuts in the other direction, some people melt down. Cope. Because we live in stupid times, Bryan felt compelled to issue a statement about the "controversy": 

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Despite allowing that DeSantis is "very polarizing," at least Bryan did not come close to apologizing, nor did he denounce DeSantis. I'm sure that will do nothing to quell the angries. Of course, he should be perfectly comfortable to just say he loves DeSantis, if that's the case. Lefties do it constantly. This double standard is not nearly as toxic and insidious as the news media's treatment of political violence (or possible political violence). The different rules for left-wing versus right-wing (or claimed right-wing) violence are glaring and appalling, and journalists do the same thing every time. I had a few thoughts about it: 


What happened to Mr. Pelosi is terrible and they should throw the book at the attacker, and certainly not let him out on the streets, as has happened so often in San Francisco. But as of this writing, we've learned that the suspect's politics seem totally incoherent, with crazy rantings and behavior that reflect right-wing and left-wing conspiratorial beliefs. He also seems deeply delusional. It's also unclear if politics was the motive at all, with some very strange details emerging from the incident (some of which have been somewhat clarified). That didn't stop the media from stampeding to their usual "right-wing violence" talking points and naked activism, trying to shame Republicans for running totally normal ads tying candidates around the country to the polarizing and unpopular Speaker. It's so transparently political, unethical, and desperate. I'll leave you with this flashback: