Category Archives: Ron DeSantis

Viktor Orbán’s support for Trump seems to wane as ally meets with DeSantis

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Hungarian PM previously backed Trump but meetings between Katalin Novák and DeSantis camp suggest he’s hedging his bets

Hungary’s far-right prime minister, Viktor Orbán, one of Donald Trump’s biggest international supporters, has made overtures in recent weeks to Ron DeSantis and one of the Florida governor’s key billionaire backers.

Orbán has repeatedly voiced strong support for Trump’s policies and political style even long after the former president left the White House. But meetings between a key Orbán ally and the DeSantis camp suggest the Hungarian leader is hedging his bets amid uncertainty over Trump’s electoral prospects.

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Democrats bid to use censorship law against DeSantis and ban his book

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Opponents say memoir The Courage to be Free, published in February, violates law governor signed last year

Democrats in Florida are attempting to use a state law that censors books in public schools against the governor who signed it, Ron DeSantis, by asking schools to review or ban the Republican governor’s own book, The Courage to be Free.

“The very trap he set for others is the one that he set for himself,” Fentrice Driskell, the Democratic minority leader in the Florida state house, told the Daily Beast.

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Disney chief Bob Iger calls Ron DeSantis ‘anti-business and anti-Florida’

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CEO’s comments are latest round in bitter feud between governor and state’s largest corporate employer over ‘don’t say gay’ law

Disney’s chief executive, Bob Iger, has lambasted the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, as “anti-business and anti-Florida” in the latest round of a bitter public battle between the Sunshine state’s most powerful corporation and its top elected official.

DeSantis and his Republican allies in the state legislature have targeted Walt Disney World, the Orlando-area entertainment resort that employs 75,000 people, since the company spoke out against the controversial Florida “don’t say gay” law curtailing classroom discussion of gender identity and sexuality amid mounting pressure from its employees to take a stand.

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Florida closes in on six-week abortion ban while also allowing no-permit gun carry

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Abortion legislation needs to move through house before gaining DeSantis’s likely signature while gun-carry law enacted today

Florida took another step to the right on Monday when the state senate approved a bill to ban abortions after six weeks, a measure supported by Republican governor and expected presidential candidate Ron DeSantis – who on the same day signed into law a bill allowing the public to carry concealed guns without a permit.

The latest proposal to restrict reproductive rights must still be approved by the house in the state legislature before it reaches the governor’s desk. Florida currently prohibits abortions after 15 weeks.

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DeSantis hits Republican poll low as Trump tightens grip on primary

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Florida governor repeats criticism of Trump in Fox Nation interview as he attempts delicate balancing act

Donald Trump may be in legal trouble over his alleged weakness for vice, but his predicament is increasingly placing Ron DeSantis – his chief rival for the Republican presidential nomination – in a political vise.

The Florida governor must join Republican attacks on Alvin Bragg, the Democratic Manhattan district attorney whose indictment of Trump over a hush money payment to a porn star is reportedly imminent, while trying not to lose ground in a primary he has not formally entered.

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Trump-appointed judge seems open to arguments against abortion pill – live

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Federal judge in Texas holds hearing on status of mifepristone, which a far-right group claims is unsafe despite FDA approval

The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly reports that a federal prosecutor has unveiled an indictment against a Chinese tycoon tied to Steve Bannon and other top allies of Donald Trump. Here’s what we know so far about the charges:

Ho Wan Kwok, a Chinese tycoon with close links to prominent Trumpist Republicans including Steve Bannon, has been indicted on 12 counts relating to an alleged $1bn fraud.

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DeSantis opposes US aid to Ukraine as Republican presidential race intensifies – live

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Likely contender’s statement read on air by Fox News host Tucker Carlson aligns him with rival Donald Trump

Here’s Ron DeSantis’s full statement outlining his position on Ukraine, as posted by Tucker Carlson:

Other big Republican names responded to the Fox News commentator’s questionnaire, including Texas governor Greg Abbott, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, former vice president Mike Pence and, of course, Donald Trump.

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Ron DeSantis visits Iowa as Republican 2024 race heats up – as it happened

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Joe Biden continues his attacks on the GOP’s far right wing. Following his remarks earlier on this month’s strong jobs figures, he’s taken to Twitter.

“Extreme Maga [Make America Great Again] House Republicans are showing us what they value: tax breaks for the rich. They demand the biggest Medicare benefits cut in decades, ship jobs overseas, defund law enforcement, devastate our national and border security. It’s a gut punch to the middle class,” the US president tweeted earlier this afternoon.

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Ron DeSantis visits Iowa as presidential bid speculation intensifies

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Rightwing governor of Florida – and most likely rival to Trump for the 2024 nomination – promotes his book in the early voting state

The Republican Ron DeSantis greeted fans in Iowa on Friday, marking the Florida governor’s first visit this election cycle to the early voting state and intensifying speculation over when he might announce his 2024 presidential bid.

DeSantis delivered remarks to a full crowd at a casino in Davenport on Friday morning, and later appeared in Des Moines with the governor of Iowa, Republican Kim Reynolds, to promote his new book, The Courage to be Free.

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Florida Republicans seek new abortion restrictions amid broad rightwing push

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Proposals include restrictions on gender identification, diversity programs, press freedoms, and relax concealed weapons laws

Florida Republicans are planning a broad rightwing legislative push, including new restrictions on gender identification, diversity and equity programs, abortion and press freedoms, and further relaxation of concealed weapons laws and the ability of courts to impose death sentences.

The basket of proposed legislation comes five months after the state’s rightwing Republican governor Ron DeSantis won re-election by a decisive margin and the Republicans established a convincing majority in the state legislature.

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Ron DeSantis takes control of Disney’s governing district after ‘don’t say gay’ row

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Move comes after Florida governor lashed out at theme park’s protest of law restricting sexual orientation discussion in schools

The Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, has signed a bill that wrests control of Walt Disney World’s self-governing district, in a move seen as punishing the company for its opposition to his so-called “don’t say gay” law.

“Today the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end,” he said at the bill signing in Lake Buena Vista in his trademark bullish style. “There’s a new sheriff in town, and accountability will be the order of the day.”

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US officials say all debris from suspected Chinese spy balloon has been collected – as it happened

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American authorities have retrieved all the wreckage of the Chinese spy balloon a US fighter jet shot down off South Carolina’s coast, the Associated Press reports, which sparked a diplomatic incident with Beijing and kicked off a unusual spate of military action against unidentified objects in North American skies.

According to the AP, “Officials said the US believes that Navy, Coast Guard and FBI personnel collected all of the balloon debris off the ocean floor. US Northern Command said in a statement that the recovery operations ended Thursday and that final pieces are on their way to the FBI lab in Virginia for analysis. It said air and maritime restrictions off South Carolina have been lifted.”

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DeSantis wins new power over Disney World in ‘don’t say gay’ culture war

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Florida legislature gives governor right to name members of board supervising theme park, claiming: ‘There’s a new sheriff in town’

Florida’s far-right governor, Ron DeSantis, has won the power to appoint the members of the board that supervises the development of the state’s famous Walt Disney World theme parks after a fight over a law that restricts sexual orientation and gender identity discussions in schools.

Disney as a result is set to lose some of the autonomy it has enjoyed in Florida during the last nearly six decades, but the company has held on to some of its key privileges amid the culture war leveled at it by DeSantis.

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Ron DeSantis prepares for 2024 White House bid as Trump hits campaign trail

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Moves spur Trump into attacking Florida governor during low key events over the weekend in Iowa and New Hampshire

America’s 2024 presidential race is showing signs of kicking into gear amid reports that Florida’s rightwing Republican governor Ron DeSantis is now laying the groundwork for a White House bid as Donald Trump finally hit the campaign trail.

DeSantis’s moves even spurred Trump into attacking him directly as the former US president held relatively low key events over the weekend in the key early voting states of New Hampshire and South Carolina.

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DeSantis calls to end jury unanimity for Florida death penalty cases

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Republican governor suggests ‘super-majority’ should suffice in state that has required jury unanimity in capital cases since 2017

Florida’s rightwing Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, wants to end the constitutional requirement that juries in his state are unanimous when handing down death sentences.

“Fine, have a super-majority,” DeSantis told the Florida Sheriffs Association on Monday. “But you can’t just say one person votes no, and therefore the death penalty is not given.”

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Ron DeSantis leads Donald Trump by 23 points in Republican poll

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Florida governor takes enormous lead over embattled ex-president for 2024 race as Mike Pence nears a run of his own

In a new poll regarding potential Republican nominees for president in 2024, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, led Donald Trump by a whopping 23 points.

Republican and Republican-leaning voters dealt the significant blow to the former president’s ego in a survey carried out by USA Today and Suffolk University and released on Tuesday.

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DeSantis and Pence lead Republican wave – of presidential campaign books

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The GOP flopped in the midterms but its White House hopefuls still hope to find readers – and conservative group bulk-buyers

In one of the clearest signs that the 2024 Republican presidential primary will feature rivals to Donald Trump, a host of likely candidates have released or will soon release books purporting to outline their political visions.

Such books often sell poorly, but that is rarely their point. They are markers of ambition. To judge from the political bookshelves, after midterm elections in which many Trump-endorsed candidates suffered humiliating losses, the former president will not be the only declared candidate for long.

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Ron DeSantis book announcement a clear sign of presidential ambition

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Florida governor expected to challenge Trump for Republican nod in 2024 will publish The Courage to Be Free in February

In the clearest signal yet that Ron DeSantis is preparing a run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, it was announced on Wednesday that the rightwing governor of Florida will publish a campaign-style book, mixing memoir with policy proposals.

The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Renewal, will be published by Broadside Books, a conservative imprint of HarperCollins, on 28 February.

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Elon Musk says he will back Trump rival Ron DeSantis in 2024 if he runs for president

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Billionaire says he prefers ‘someone sensible and centrist’ but that he had been disappointed by the Democrats so far

Elon Musk has said he would support Donald Trump’s arch rival, Ron DeSantis, in 2024 if the Florida governor were to run for president.

“Yes”, Musk said in a tweet when asked if he would support DeSantis in 2024, after suggesting he had not found his ideal candidate among Democrats.

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Donald Trump announces 2024 run for president nearly two years after inspiring deadly Capitol riot

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Twice-impeached ex-president makes expected election announcement despite shaky midterms and surge from rival Ron DeSantis

Donald Trump on Tuesday night announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, likely sparking another period of tumult in US politics and especially his own political party.

“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said from ballroom of his private Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he stood on a stage crowded with American flags and Make America Great Again banners.

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