NOIRELLA

Why We Should be Worried About Ron Desantis

By Sloan Glover

DeSantis, Disney, Fox, and his attack on government agencies

Ron DeSantis has exploded on the social scenes recently, becoming a rising Trump figure, and gaining national notice for opposing measures around the Coronavirus and Disney. Ron DeSantis is a former long-time member of Congress and recently a Governor of Florida, he’s known for his very conservative policies and belief in traditional American principles. He’s a Yale and Harvard University graduate with blue-collar roots and was an active-duty service member in the U.S. Navy. A believer in Florida being the peace amongst the chaos of the United States, Ron DeSantis has risen in popularity in the news after announcing his Presidential announcement, bidding him against former President Donald Trump. 

Ron DeSantis has been thrown into the main news circuits with his blatant attack on the happiest place in America, Disney. Disney has been in the news for the last year with direct connections to Ron DeSantis and a certain bill called Florida’s HB 1557, the Parental Rights in Education, more well known as the “Don’t Say Gay” Law. In short, this bill prohibits children from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grade levels and “authorizes parents to bring action against the school district to obtain declaratory judgment”. Not only has this bill brought a lot of damage to the LGBTQIA+ community in Florida but it continues the very concerning government narrative around LGBTQIA+ youth in the United States and has supported the swath of homophobic and transphobic laws being passed in Congress of late. When Disney came out against this bill publicly, animosity formed, and legal battles began that have continued for a year between Ron DeSantis and Disney, where DeSantis has gone after Disney’s district and control. When Disneyland was created, the government of Florida created the Reedy Creek Improvement District allowing Disney to act as an independent district where Disney had a board of directors that monitored the taxes, funds, and projects while funding the municipal services for the area. After Disney’s remarks, DeSantis started his attacks under the guise of eliminating “woke” media and taking down large corporations and effectively signed the SB 4-C. This law would terminate districts like Disney and would allow him to pick Disneyland’s board himself, which would possibly halt new future infrastructure for Disney, so Disney sued DeSantis and the board he appointed. Disney is suing DeSantis as they believe that DeSantis started, “A targeted campaign of government retaliation – orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech – now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region and violates its constitutional rights.” Although DeSantis is not planning to back down, Disney would like their rights and board to be reestablished or they would have to pay tens of millions each year due to the new district change DeSantis created. This ruling which is still being deliberated will have a huge effect on the political standing DeSantis is trying to create; someone who doesn’t back down from corporations and will win ultimately. DeSantis’ attack on Disney may end with the result of him being affected politically as taxpayers might have to pick up the millions of dollars in municipal services Disney has been paying for decades. They would also forfeit the 2000 high-paying jobs that would be in the area after Disney’s $17 billion investment in Disneyland. 

Weeks ago Ron DeSantis appeared in the news again for his comments on Fox News about government agencies saying that he would like to eradicate the government departments of Education, Commerce, Energy, and IRS as they’re overrun with leftist ideology. For years DeSantis has been a stark opposer of the IRS, as he spearheaded the fight against the IRS in Congress under the belief the IRS is weaponized against the conservatives. DeSantis believes that “woke ideology” and leftism are affecting the lives of everyday conservatives through departments such as the ones he wants to disband or completely overturn. DeSantis’ attacks on these different departments are also widely seen through his legislature in Florida such as his “Don’t Say Gay” law affecting Florida’s education and LGBTQIA+ youth. DeSantis’ interest in “destroying leftism” in the United States has been fueled by the growing divide between conservatives and liberals which is affecting all aspects of American’s lives. In a Fox News interview, DeSantis says, “I will be able to destroy leftism in this country and leave woke ideology in the dustbin of history,”. Although Trump does have a huge lead over the Florida Governor, the future of Trump’s presidency is up for debate as he’s facing multiple legal charges such as multiple criminal investigations, paying off a writer after being possibly involved in sexual abuse, and his attempts to overturn the 2020 election decision. With all these investigations possibly barring Trump from running, DeSantis has risen from Florida to try and take the Republican nomination that Trump might leave vacant. Although Trump has recently secured his 3rd indictment – a first in history – he still leads in the GOP Republican polls with 61% of the vote and DeSantis with 23% of the vote. With the recent outburst on Fox News about cutting government programs such as the Department of Education and the IRS, DeSantis is seemingly more of an authoritarian wildcard for conservatives which doesn’t offer a secure prospect for the Republican nomination against the Trumpism that follows our former President. Fox News which covered Trump rampantly and now DeSantis, is helping fuel the Trumpism and conservative ideology that we’re seeing increase recently. Certain media outlets and news outlets such as CNN and Fox News – although Fox News isn’t an accredited news agency – help shape viewers’ thoughts on political and national issues we’re facing. Although both CNN and Fox News are very biased toward their political party, it still creates a divide in understanding the fundamental issues the country is facing which causes more problems down the road. For example, when the pandemic was at its height,  CNN was covering the failings of Trump, the spread of coronavirus, and the normalcy of mail-in voting. Fox News covered how liberals were downplaying the pandemic and how the left happily embraced the extremity of racial ideologies while touching on the high risks of mail-in ballots being tampered with. The differences between the two news stations provided a different fundamental understanding of information around Trump, the coronavirus, and main-in balloting which affects the way America will approach different topics, especially since more Republicans watch Fox News than any other agency. If Fox News is constantly pushing the rhetoric that the left is extreme and suppressing Republicans while tampering with information then it makes more sense for DeSantis to push the idea that government agencies should be eradicated because the left has overrun them and Republican values are suffering. 

Governor Ron DeSantis recently announced his bid for president on May 24th and presented a glowing introduction to this bid by presenting his work in Florida. Much of the evidence he presented is either false or falsely shrouded in the way he presented his examples. For example, he blamed the low attendance in military recruitment due to “woke ideology” when an Army representative said that, “wokeness [was] relatively low on the list of barriers to service.”. He also said that California believes in abortions up until birth, which would be considered infanticide and homicide in California as most abortions happen before 13 weeks. Ron DeSantis’ recent outburst about eradicating the IRS and other agencies is just adding to the list of statements that further weaken his claim at the Republican nomination for the presidency and increase the divide we’re seeing in Americans today. Another possible weakening of his claim is his attack and suspension of an elected state attorney who has different beliefs on the matter of weaponization. Florida doesn’t seem to be living up to its name, the Sunshine State, with DeSantis darkening the state. 

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