Category Archives: Ron DeSantis

Ron DeSantis’s biggest donor to pull plug until campaign makes changes

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Hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow has contributed $20m to the Never Back Down Super Pac but is now wary of the slow campaign

Hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow, the biggest individual donor to a group supporting Ron DeSantis’s presidential bid, has said he will not donate more money unless the Florida governor attracts new major donors and adopts a more moderate approach.

The comments by Bigelow, who gave $20m to the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down Super Pac in March, to Reuters underscore donor concerns about the Florida governor’s struggling campaign.

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Florida tells schools AP Psychology course with LGBTQ+ content violates law

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Ron DeSantis’s government has banned instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, effectively also banning the class

Florida has told school superintendents that the Advanced Placement psychology course offered to high school students violates the state’s new law prohibiting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, effectively banning the class, the non-profit that develops the courses said on Thursday.

The move is the latest by the administration of Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor, to limit instruction about LGBTQ+ issues and race in the state. DeSantis is challenging Donald Trump for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 and has made battles over cultural issues a centerpiece of his campaign.

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Trump faces four criminal counts as six co-conspirators listed in January 6 indictment – as it happened

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Special counsel Jack Smith to seek speedy trial and says January 6 was ‘fueled by lies’

University of Virginia political guru Larry Sabato took a look at the New York Times/Siena College poll released today, and what he found does not look good for Democrats:

The firm behind the Mountain Valley Pipeline said today that it expects work on the controversial natural gas conduit to be completed by the end of the year.

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‘Stop’: Black Republican congressman attacks DeSantis over slavery curriculum

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John James of Michigan says presidential contender has ‘gone too far’ as outrage grows over Florida teaching of history

Florida governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis has “gone too far” in defending his state’s new educational standards which require public schools to teach that enslaved Black Americans benefited from their forced labor by learning useful skills, Republican congressman John James has said.

James – who is Black – made his remarks in a post on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter.

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Trump, DeSantis and top Republican candidates to share stage at Iowa event

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Tim Scott, currently third in polling, will also be among 13 presidential hopefuls participating in Lincoln Dinner on Friday

Nearly every major Republican presidential candidate will share a stage in the early voting state of Iowa on Friday night, as Donald Trump continues to dominate in the polls despite his numerous legal liabilities.

Thirteen candidates will appear at the Iowa Republican party’s 2023 Lincoln Dinner fundraiser, giving them an opportunity to address donors and local party leaders with less than six months left before the state’s crucial caucuses.

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Ron DeSantis unharmed after car crash on way to campaign event

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Florida governor and team thank well-wishers after accident while traveling to event in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Ron DeSantis, the right-wing governor of Florida and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, was involved in a car crash on the campaign trail on Tuesday.

In a statement to media, DeSantis’s press secretary, Bryan Griffin, said: “This morning, the governor was in a car accident while traveling to an event in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He and his team are uninjured.

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Struggling DeSantis and Pence attack criminal justice law they championed

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Candidates for Republican nomination attack First Step Act enacted under Trump in attempt to look tough on crime

As a Republican congressman, Ron DeSantis was a supporter of legislation that made moderate reforms to the federal prison system intended to reduce recidivism and mass incarceration – a cause that was also championed by then president Donald Trump and his deputy, Mike Pence.

Five years later, DeSantis, now Florida’s governor, and Pence are struggling to overtake Trump’s lead among Republicans as they vie for the party’s presidential nomination, and have turned against the criminal justice measure they both supported in an effort to win over conservative voters.

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Kamala Harris condemns Florida over curriculum claim of slavery ‘benefit’

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Vice-president decries ‘extremist so-called leaders’ and says new teaching standards will rob children of knowing true US history

Kamala Harris went to Florida on Friday to address the state board of education’s controversial new standards for Black history, which include the contention that some Black people benefited from being enslaved.

In an impassioned afternoon speech, the vice-president predicted the standards would rob children of knowing true US history that the rest of the world has been taught.

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Ron DeSantis says Trump January 6 charges would not be good for country

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Florida governor and presidential hopeful tells CNN he hopes his rival is not charged after Trump says he is target of DoJ inquiry

Ron DeSantis said charges against Donald Trump over his election subversion that culminated in the deadly January 6 attack on Congress would not be good for the US.

“I hope he doesn’t get charged,” the Florida governor told CNN in a much-trailed interview on Tuesday. “I don’t think it’ll be good for the country.”

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DeSantis reduces staff as campaign struggles to meet fundraising goals – report

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Fewer than 10 staffers were laid off, Politico reports, as more shake-ups within campaign are expected in coming weeks

Florida Governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has reduced campaign staff as his campaign has struggled to meet fundraising goals.

Fewer than 10 staffers were laid off, according to an anonymous staffer, reported Politico. The staffers were involved in event planning and may be picked up by the pro DeSantis super-Pac, Never Back Down. Two senior campaign advisers, Dave Abrams and Tucker Obenshain left the campaign this past week to assist a pro-DeSantis nonprofit group.

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State guard set up by DeSantis is being trained as personal militia, veterans say

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Veterans resign from force established as civilian disaster relief, citing concerns over ‘militaristic’ training and ‘abuse’

A Florida state guard established by the rightwing governor, Ron DeSantis, under the guise of a civilian disaster relief force is instead being trained as an armed, combat-ready militia under his personal command, according to military veteran recruits who have quit the program.

Several veterans resigned after an encampment last month having become concerned at the “militaristic” training and “abuse” one disabled veteran suffered at the hands of instructors, according to an investigation by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times.

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Donald Trump’s legal team urges Georgia court to block 2020 election investigation – as it happened

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Lawyers for former US president ask Georgia’s highest court to prevent district attorney from prosecuting him

Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy condemned congressman Eli Crane for using an outdated and offensive term to refer to African Americans on the House floor:

Politico reports that Crane has apologized for using the language:

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Ron DeSantis cannot ‘out-Trump Trump’ in primary, Ocasio-Cortez says

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Democratic congresswoman says rightwing Florida governor, trailing Trump in the polls, has made ‘very large, critical errors’

Ron DeSantis has made “very large, critical errors” in the Republican presidential primary, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, the biggest of which is the Florida governor’s attempt to “out-Trump Trump” and appeal to the hard-right GOP base.

“The dynamics of these races change from day to day,” the New York progressive congresswoman told MSNBC. “I think that Governor DeSantis has made some very large, critical errors.

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Ron DeSantis says he will try to revoke China’s trade status if elected president

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The Republican governor of Florida said he’d take ‘executive action as appropriate’ to revoke Beijing’s legal designation

The Republican presidential candidate and Florida governor Ron DeSantis said on Sunday he would aim to revoke China’s permanent normal trade relations status if he won the White House next year.

“I favor doing that,” DeSantis told Fox News.

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Trump attacks ‘no personality’ DeSantis and repeats election lies in Nevada

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Former president who dominates Republican primary finds receptive audience at Las Vegas rally

Donald Trump attacked Ron DeSantis at a rally in Las Vegas on Saturday, saying his closest challenger for the Republican presidential nomination had “no personality” – but claiming responsibility for the Florida governor’s career on the national stage.

Trump also repeated his lie about electoral fraud in his 2020 defeat by Joe Biden, to a receptive audience, before high-fiving fans at a mixed martial event.

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Casey DeSantis ‘mamas’ video labeled ‘desperate effort’ to save husband’s campaign

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Florida first lady outlines Ron DeSantis’s hardline rightwing agenda in video accusing progressives of ‘coming after our kids’

Vowing not to let progressives “impose an agenda” on American children and their mothers, Casey DeSantis outlined the hardline rightwing agenda her husband has imposed on Florida and now wants to impose on America.

The Florida first lady did so in a new video for Mamas for DeSantis, a group supporting Governor Ron DeSantis’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

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Chris Christie calls Trump-DeSantis nomination feud ‘a teenage food fight’

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Former New Jersey governor speaks out after bizarre video from Florida’s governor and ‘juvenile’ nicknames from the ex-president

An escalating feud between the two main rivals for the Republican presidential nomination is akin to a “teenage food fight”, another challenger, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, said on Sunday.

He made the comment after the campaign of Ron DeSantis, the rightwing Florida governor who has slipped in the polls to Donald Trump, released a “homophobic” video attacking the former president for his previous support of the LGBTQ+ community.

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Ron DeSantis accused of ‘stupid’ move with timing of New Hampshire event

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2024 presidential hopeful schedules event in competition with Donald Trump speech to Republican women

Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign is struggling in the crucial state of New Hampshire and may have made the situation worse by scheduling an event on Tuesday in competition with a speech by Donald Trump to Republican women, prompting one prominent strategist to call the move “stupid”, Politico reported.

“It’s the worst strategic move he has exhibited thus far,” the New Hampshire Republican strategist, Mike Dennehy, told the website. “It’s just stupid, actually. You don’t take on the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women.”

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Anger and anxiety as DeSantis’s asylum-seeker flights return to US skies

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Mission of ‘Air DeSantis’ to transport migrants to other states gives Florida governor chance to burnish hardline reputation

The already congested skies over the western US became a little more crowded this week after Florida’s rightwing Republican governor Ron DeSantis ordered the return to flight of one of America’s most notorious transport airlines.

Air DeSantis, as supporters colloquially refer to the state’s unauthorized alien transportation program, doesn’t even exist as an official entity. It isn’t registered as a company, or with the Federal Aviation Authority, is mired in legal troubles, and has been grounded for months.

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Florida confirms it was behind flights that left asylum seekers in California

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Officials claim the people, mostly from Colombia and Venezuela, consented to the travel, refuting allegations from Gavin Newsom

Florida confirmed on Tuesday that it was behind two private jet flights that brought three dozen people seeking asylum from the US southern border to California amid accusations that the individuals were coerced to travel under false pretenses.

The state’s division of emergency management said in a statement that the passengers all went willingly, and refuted allegations from California officials such as the governor, Gavin Newsom, who had threatened Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, with kidnapping charges.

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