DeSantis hits familiar targets of Fauci, Disney and ‘wokeism’ in first rally as 2024 candidate

Governor Ron DeSantis was in Iowa on Tuesday for his first rally of the 2024 Republican primary cycle — but his remarks were clearly aimed at a general election audience. The conservative governor punched at a whole host of familiar GOP foes during the evening event in west Des Moines, where voters will have the first crack at the Republican field of 2024 candidates. But Mr DeSantis himself did not swipe at any of those rivals. Instead, he focused his fire on the news media, the federal government and its related bureaucracy, and even the Disney corporation which has become embroiled in a feud with him in his home state. His list of targets was a choice selection of Republican red meat. Dr Anthony Fauci, Hunter Biden, critical race theory, “gender ideology” and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives were all up for skewering. So to was George Soros, the Jewish billionaire whose involvement in Democratic-leaning politics has spawned a host of antisemitic conspiracy theories on the right; Mr DeSantis attacked “Soros-backed prosecutors” who he blamed for supposedly refusing to enforce laws of which they disapprove. It was a campaign speech that had all the signs of both the strengths that propelled Mr DeSantis to victory twice in Florida as well as the weaknesses which may very well doom his 2024 bid for the presidency unless a major change in the status quo takes place. The main weakness it highlighted: Mr DeSantis’s unwillingness to engage in a direct fight with Donald Trump, his presumed rival for the GOP nomination. Mr Trump remains the steady favourite in all available polling of the upcoming contest, and it is difficult to see how the Florida governor reverses his recent polling slide without confronting the former president by name. That was one thing Mr DeSantis avoided completely on Tuesday, a fact that drew into question his claim to be willing to stand up to any rival or political foe who came forth. Worse, the governor took a few veiled shots at the leading candidate — references to a single term in the White House being insufficient to clear out the “swamp” in Washington, blame for “empower[ing]” Republican foes like Dr Fauci — but those attacks failed to draw serious blood and left watchers of the address wondering why Mr DeSantis is so hesitant to call out the man who has been personally and politcally degrading him in statements for weeks. “If you are faced with a destructive bureaucrat in your myths like a Fauci, you do not empower somebody like Fauci, you bring him into the office and you tell him to pack his bags, you are fired,” said the governor in one half-hearted attempt at landing a blow on his rival. In another: “At the end of the day leadership is not about entertainment. It's not about building a brand. It's not about virtue signaling. It is about results. And in Florida, we didn't lead with merely words. We followed up our words with deeds, and we have produced a record of accomplishment that we would put up against anybody in this country.“ More follows... Read More Fair-weather DeSantis’ climate change rejection is ‘politicization’ at its finest LGBTQ people are fleeing Florida in ‘mass migration’ with some fundraising via GoFundMe Ron DeSantis called out for ‘ignoring’ Hollywood beach shooting: ‘He doesn’t care’