Email Insights: Ron DeSantis no ally to sexual harassment victims, says American Bridge

Ron DeSantis is building his financing team for a possible run for Florida Governor.

During his official announcement he would run for Florida governor, Republican U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis touted his bill to nix a Congressional fund used settle harassment complaints against lawmakers, but American Bridge said that ploy doesn’t make up for his past votes in the House.

“Ron DeSantis’ pathetic attempts to cover up his checkered record of screwing over victims of sexual harassment won’t work,” American Bridge spox Lizzy Price said in the email. “Given his voting record and his strong support of President [Donald] Trump – whose own serial sexual misconduct has caused Florida Republicans headaches – DeSantis is no hero to sexual harassment victims.”

The gripe? A 2013 vote American Bridge said would have denied SNAP benefits to anyone who quit their job, even if they walked due to sexual harassment in the workplace.

Indeed, DeSantis voted in favor of a failed amendment to the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 that would have stripped SNAP eligibility for two months from any “able-bodied individual” who quit their job “voluntarily.”

Other parts of the bill would have allowed SNAP unemployed participants to decline a job offer for “good cause” and maintain benefits, but that same courtesy wouldn’t have been extended to quitters.

Workplace sexual harassment wasn’t the dominant societal issue then that it is now, and the amendment didn’t address sexual harassment or any type of hostile work environment that could lead an employee to kick rocks, but American Bridge doesn’t see it that way.

Its take: “DeSantis Voted To Deny SNAP Benefits To Women Who Quit Their Job, Even If it Was Due to Sexual Harassment.”