In weekend tweetstorm, Nikki Fried slams Ron DeSantis’ competence, character

Nikki Fried AP day 2019 (Large)
Plaza Level drama percolates even on a college football Saturday.

The drama on the Plaza Level of the Florida Capitol continues to percolate even on a college football Saturday.

In a series of tweets Saturday evening, the state’s Democratic Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services issued a series of blistering attacks on the Republican governor.

Painting Gov. Ron DeSantis as “following orders” from President Donald Trump, Commissioner Nikki Fried lobbed a series of criticisms certainly consistent with someone “looking into” a run for the Governor’s Office in 2022.

The critiques, viewed as a set, offer a refresher on a series of indictments of DeSantis’ leadership style through the pandemic, a period in which there has been scant coordination between his office and Fried’s.

“Crisis defines character — throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen [DeSantis’] character revealed. Opposing a mask order, misleading the public, and ignoring science — his message to Floridians is clear: [Trump’s] campaign is more important than your health and safety.”

DeSantis, Fried charged, “demonstrates consistently that he has no plan, he’s following Donald Trump’s plan, and we all know what that means. During difficult times, he pushes hard decisions to local leaders, unless he doesn’t like their decision. He shows them no respect.”

Fried alluded to the Governor’s sidelining of Surgeon General Scott Rivkees when his messaging proved problematic this spring.

DeSantis, asserted Fried, “has ignored and silenced scientific voices — having Florida’s Surgeon General removed from a press conference for speaking truthfully about the length of this pandemic. He’s shown that for him, politics comes before science — and before public health.”

The proposed legislation to crack down on protests, expected to be a Republican priority in the Special Session, also earned new excoriation as a distraction from Republican policy failures.

“And as the president tries to distract from all of the lives lost under his utterly incompetent management of the pandemic, [DeSantis] is following orders — he’s announced priority legislation, not to address #COVID19, but to arrest people protesting for equality.”

Additionally, Fried castigated the decision to move Florida into Phase 3 reopening, offering a dire prediction: “Tragically, this return to normal life will only cause a loss of life — to a much greater magnitude.”

But DeSantis isn’t so concerned, she suggests: “As long as he remains in good graces with the president, all is well — and for him, that’s all that matters.”

What’s clear if it wasn’t already is that the ongoing one-sided war of words between Fried and DeSantis will extend past the election and the recount into and through the 2021 Legislative Session.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has written for FloridaPolitics.com since 2014. He is based in Northeast Florida. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


5 comments

  • S B ANTHONY

    September 27, 2020 at 6:37 am

    Now is the time to request mail in ballots, stock up on food and supplies, and hunker down because Covid cases and deaths are about to skyrocket, fueled by the stupid and greedy among us.

  • Charlotte Greenbarg

    September 27, 2020 at 8:04 am

    This woman is “engaged” to a married man who beats her, a man in the cannabis industry. She tried to have her office control that industry. She won because her opponent was not vetted properly And she criticizes the Gov. Classic Democrat

  • Domino

    September 27, 2020 at 9:09 am

    The cougar is on the prowl.

  • PeterH

    September 27, 2020 at 12:04 pm

    Crisis followed by another crisis.

    Based in n zero scientific evidence……Florida Republican Governor DeSantis has immediately lifted all Covid mask restrictions statewide for fines, bars and restaurants and all indoor or outdoor gatherings. No masks anywhere. I’m hopeful grocery stores will be be able to enforce mask wearing.

    The idiocy of this DeSantis move is far reaching. 40% of South Florida tourism is from South America, Canada and the EU. Senior citizens and tourist put more money into businesses than ‘spring break’ teenagers. Tourist and seniors can’t feel comfortable coming here if they know Florida hospitals are at capacity and their foreign health insurance is useless in Florida. We need to be VERY careful and prepare for a horrible Florida Fall and Winter. Ugh. Good grief! Stay safe!

  • Sonja Fitch

    September 27, 2020 at 1:55 pm

    If she called him a failure she was being kind! Duffus Desantis is killing Floridians everyday with the goptrump cult sociopaths ! Vote Democrat up and down ballot!

Comments are closed.


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