In video, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blasts 'wokeness,' vows role in school board races
Governor addressed supporters during Polk visit April 1
LAKELAND, Fla. - During a recent visit to a barbecue restaurant in Polk County, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gave a talk that seemed to satisfy the appetites of an enthusiastic group of supporters.
DeSantis warned that “woke ideology” threatens to destroy the country, vowed to get involved in local school board races and smiled in response to an audience member’s suggestion that citizens should shoot undocumented immigrants.
The Winter Haven 9-12 Project, a conservative political group, posted a video of DeSantis' talk on its website and on YouTube. The 30-minute video captures DeSantis speaking informally but in campaign-rally mode during an April 1 visit to Blackburn’s Southern Barbecue in Eagle Lake.
Florida textbooks: Florida nixes dozens of math textbooks over critical race theory, Common Core standards
As of Friday morning, the video had been removed from both sites, two days after The (Lakeland) Ledger asked DeSantis' office and a leader of the Winter Haven 9-12 Project about it. The Ledger has an audio recording and text transcript taken from the video.
DeSantis held a news conference April 1 at the Polk County Sheriff’s Operations Center in Winter Haven, at which he announced the signing of a bill that provides new financial incentives for law enforcement officers.
J.C. Martin, chair of the Polk County Republican Party, said DeSantis’ appearance later at the restaurant was a “last-minute” visit and not scheduled. Martin, who attended, said the audience included local Republicans and regular customers of the restaurant, not just members of the Winter Haven 9-12 Project.
In the video, DeSantis — who is seeking reelection this year and is considered a likely Republican presidential candidate in 2024 — covers many of the issues he emphasized during the recent legislative session and in the weeks since it ended. He lambastes “woke” companies, bemoans the alleged pushing of transgender identities in schools and blasts President Joe Biden, whom he repeatedly calls “Brandon.”
DeSantis, wearing tan khakis, a blue blazer and a tie, stands at the front of the dining area, beside a soft drink dispenser and before a wall mural showing cows in a field. An audience that appears to number about 30 sits at tables in front of him.
The video opens with DeSantis tossing campaign hats reading “Keep Florida Free” to some in the audience. A woman soon calls out to thank him for “standing up to Disney.”
More: DeSantis signs into law what critics call the 'Don't Say Gay' bill
And: Mayor invites Floridians to New York, denounces 'Don't Say Gay' law in billboards
That was a reference to the belated entry of The Walt Disney Company’s executives into a debate over the Parental Rights in Education Bill, which opponents dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The measure, adopted by the Legislature and signed by DeSantis in late March, bars public schools from providing classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade “or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
Critics charge that the law means young students with gay parents won’t be able to mention them or that teachers won’t be able to acknowledge families with members who aren’t heterosexual. Proponents say that Democrats and the media have inaccurately portrayed the law.
Repercussions: Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill sparked national backlash. But more legislation is brewing.
DeSantis rails against Disney during the talk, drawing frequent cheers, applause and laughter. Disney, known for having many LGBTQ employees and being welcoming to sexual minorities, drew criticism during the legislative session for not publicly condemning the Parental Rights in Education Bill.
After the bill had passed, Disney CEO Bob Chapek expressed criticism and asked DeSantis to veto it. In the video from Eagle Lake, DeSantis accused Disney of hypocrisy for not saying “a blip” about human rights abuses in China, where it operates a resort, and for having its cruise ships make port in Caribbean countries “that criminalize homosexuality.”
“It’s not the role of one company to come in and think they run the state,” DeSantis tells the restaurant audience, to rousing approval. “They may have run this state in the past; they do not run this state now.”
Claim about school books
DeSantis spends several minutes pledging to combat what he calls “woke ideology.” He talks of halting instruction on critical race theory in Florida schools, though the subject was not part of the state’s approved curriculum. Critical race theory, usually taught at the college level, is a complex concept exploring the historic influence of racism on American law and institutions.
The governor also says that legislation passed this year gives parents more control over the material used in public schools.
“There are library books in these middle school libraries that have pedophilia in them, where you have — like, they’re cartoons, not real pictures, but you'll have, like, 8-year-olds, 9-year-olds, doing sex acts in these pictures," DeSantis says. "That is just fundamentally wrong.”
DeSantis' office did not respond to a request for examples of books in middle-school libraries that portray pedophilia or children under 10 engaging in sex.
Polk County has been a flashpoint for debates over what books are appropriate in schools. Members of County Citizens Defending Freedom, a local conservative group formed last year, have alleged that some books on school library shelves are pornographic, prompting Polk County Public Schools to remove books and form panels to determine whether the titles should remain available to students.
“This CRT is an example of this woke ideology, and the gender ideology is woke ideology,” DeSantis says. “And there's other components to it. And let me tell you this, if this woke ideology is allowed to run our societies, it will destroy this nation.”
DeSantis also touts the Stop WOKE Act, a measure he signed last month that, among other provisions, restricts the diversity training that private companies can offer to employees.
“Some of these big corporations are forcing the employees to go through CRT training,” DeSantis says. “They will take you, based on your race, and they will make you apologize for being white or something like that. It’s just ridiculous, and honestly, it’s a civil-rights violation.”
DeSantis' office did not respond to a request for examples of companies that have forced employees to apologize for being white.
Patrolling Georgia border?
DeSantis mentions a bill passed in this year’s legislative session that reestablishes the Florida National Guard, a force that existed in the 1940s. He mocks critics who suggested that it will be his personal military unit, instead saying he expects the guard to respond to natural disasters, though he says it also could be deployed to help combat rioting.
After joking that he won’t use the guard to invade the state of New York, DeSantis says, “However, I will mobilize border security between Florida and Georgia if Stacey Abrams is elected.”
Abrams, a Democrat, is running for governor in Georgia. DeSantis' office did not respond to an email asking what he meant by the comment.
In the video, DeSantis directs repeated criticisms at Biden, referring to him instead as “President Brandon.” That evokes the slogan “Let’s Go Brandon,” adopted by many Republicans as code for the phrase “F--- Joe Biden.”
The slogan emerged from a TV clip last October showing an announcer interviewing Brandon Brown, the winner of a NASCAR race in Alabama. As many in the crowd chanted the vulgar phrase, the announcer suggested that they were actually saying, “Let’s go, Brandon.”
By the way: 'Let's go, Brandon' is code for something vulgar. Why the cryptic phrase, with sports origins, is trending
DeSantis told the audience that Biden deserves the mocking nickname because he has treated Florida unfairly. The governor cites the federal government’s limits on the supply of monoclonal antibodies Florida received to treat COVID-19 patient and claims that FEMA denied disaster aid following tornadoes in South Florida last year because Florida is “a red state.”
'We'll shoot them'
DeSantis also criticizes Biden for "dumping illegals into Florida."
Soon after that, a man who can’t be seen on camera calls out, “And if you repeal the red-flag law, we’ll shoot them.”
DeSantis, looking in the man’s direction, spreads his hands and smiles before replying.
“That was before my time, and if I were governor I would have vetoed that law,” DeSantis says. “But you don't even need to worry; you have the right to defend.”
The Florida Legislature passed a “red-flag” law in 2018, following the massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Former Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill, which allows law enforcement to petition a judge to remove guns from someone deemed a threat to themselves or others.
DeSantis' office did not respond to an email asking if he condoned the audience member’s suggestion of committing violence against undocumented immigrants.
Near the end of the video, DeSantis mentions school board elections and encourages supporters to get involved in local races. He acknowledges that such elections are nonpartisan but laments that such conservative counties as Brevard, Lee and Polk have school board members “who are fighting against the community and fighting against the values of parents.”
DeSantis adds, “That has to end this year. So, we’re going to be involved in school board races. We’re going to make sure we’re going to be able to support the candidates who are going to be reflective of our values.”
Previous Florida governors have rarely made endorsements or gotten involved in school board campaigns.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.