Gov. Ron DeSantis wanted guns banned from his reelection, but he also wanted the city of Tampa to take the blame for it, which demonstrates that the Florida governor is a Trump clone.
The Republican governor’s campaign wanted weapons banned from his victory celebration at the city-run Tampa Convention Center, a city official said in emails obtained by The Washington Post. And the campaign suggested that the city take responsibility for the firearms ban, the official said — not the governor, who has been a vocal supporter of gun rights.
“DeSantis/his campaign will not tell their attendees they are not permitted to carry because of the political optics,” Chase Finch, the convention center’s safety and security manager, said in an Oct. 28 email to other city officials about the request, which was conveyed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, a state police agency led by a DeSantis appointee.
DeSantis wanted the city to tell anyone who asked that it was their policy not to allow guns in the building, which was a lie.
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Governor Guns Everywhere In Florida didn’t want guns at his reelection party. It is the sort of Second Amendment hypocrisy that political observers have become accustomed to over the years, but it also reveals something else about Ron DeSantis.
He and Trump are two sides of the same coin. The Republican establishment is going to try to sell DeSantis as a younger, new-generation conservative, when the truth is that DeSantis is Trump without Trump.
Gov. DeSantis is also the guy who rigged his own reelection through voter intimidation and suppression, so he is likely political fool’s gold for Republicans who end up supporting him in 2024.
Republicans will talk a lot about turning the page and fresh faces, but Ron DeSantis is just another Trumpian hypocrite who is always looking for someone else to take the fall.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
