The DeSantis Dilemma: Your Thoughts
Many readers chime in on the governor of Florida.
A reader dissents:
Thanks for the interesting piece on DeSantis and Trump. I basically agree with your reaction to the woke movement, but I find it overwrought (which is actually one of your charms as a writer). I think that you consistently overstate the influence and effects of wokeness. But that is a matter for another day.
Where I think you miss the mark on DeSantis is less about policy (which I agree is rather more moderate than often reported, albeit wrong on the merits), than character. He and Trump I think are fundamentally alike in this respect: they are bullies motivated almost entirely by personal grievances and resentments. They are not in public life to try and help anyone, like Joe Biden is, however fecklessly.
The reason that DeSantis should not become president is because, like Trump, his first response to any challenge is a malicious lashing out. Off the top of my head, examples are: (1) the performative but substantively moronic response to Disney, (2) when he bullied the Special Olympics (of all groups!) into abandoning its vaccine mandate, and (3) when he hectored college kids at a cybersecurity event in Tampa into removing their masks:
As far as the Special Olympics saga, below is the response from DeSantis so you can decide for yourself whether it was the right move:
Sorry, but I honestly don’t see anything that awful about either of these clips. Maybe it’s subjective. I reserve judgment on his character. We will soon have much more evidence to measure that.
Another reader runs through the many reasons he dislikes DeSantis:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Weekly Dish to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.