Joe Henderson: Ron DeSantis strayed from what made him popular

DeSantis 3
The Governor enjoyed high approval ratings early in his term by appealing to both sides of the political aisle.

Remember the good ol’ days early in Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s first term when even centrist Democrats gave him high marks for his stances on the environment and other issues? His approval rating soared.

As the young, popular leader of a large, important state, DeSantis began popping up in conversations about a possible presidential run. He was a man on the move.

As it turns out, though, that might have been the worst thing that could have happened to him. Once he got those presidential stars in his eyes, things changed. He gave off an air that anyone who disagreed with him is stupid.

That’s where we are now.

DeSantis’ hard-line position on masks appears to have boomeranged on him. A recent survey from St. Pete Polls, commissioned by Florida Politics, showed 62% of Floridians favor mandatory masks in schools.

And that was before DeSantis threatened to withhold salaries from school superintendents and board members who defy his executive order forbidding mandates. He looked and sounded like the schoolyard bully. He made victims of those who say he is wrong.

The Governor champions freedom and says he abhors the big hand of government. Yet, he stripped the authority of local governments to set their own pandemic protections. He told cruise line operators in Florida they can’t require proof that passengers were vaccinated against COVID-19.

Norwegian Cruise Lines pushed back and sued to overturn the ban, and a federal judge agreed the company could ignore DeSantis. Other cruise lines likely will follow, leading to a possible embarrassing defeat for the Governor.

The two best weapons against the delta variant of the virus are vaccinations and masks. DeSantis would have been smarter to tell Floridians that they don’t have to do either one, but businesses could refuse to serve them.

I don’t know if DeSantis listens to anyone outside his closely protected echo chamber. However, it probably doesn’t help that his recently hired press secretary, Christina Pushaw, is widely seen as combative and contemptuous.

In a crisis — and this is one — those aren’t good traits.

The Governor appeared at Lakewood Elementary School in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. He was there to tout the $1,000 bonus payments for teachers, and Lakewood was a good choice. Teachers there helped raise the school from an F in 2019 to an A in 2021.

That’s a remarkable achievement, and they certainly deserve the money. But they got the money because of the COVID-19 relief package championed by President Joe Biden, not DeSantis.

In fact, just a few days before, DeSantis told the President that he didn’t want to “hear a blip about COVID from you, thank you,” adding, “why don’t you do your job?”

That was after Biden said, if GOP governors like DeSantis weren’t going to help, “at least get out of the way of the people trying to do the right thing.”

The hard-core base loved that, of course.

I’ll bet it didn’t play that well in the middle, though. They don’t want to take a cruise and wonder if the person across from them is contagious. They want their kids safe in school, and if masks help (and they do), make everyone put ’em on.

Independent and moderate voters will decide the next election, and DeSantis has some explaining to do to those folks. The red-meat crowd alone won’t be enough to push DeSantis over the top.

We probably wouldn’t have had this discussion if he stayed on the path that made him so popular at the start. Alas, sometimes ambition can lead a person astray.

Joe Henderson

I have a 45-year career in newspapers, including nearly 42 years at The Tampa Tribune. Florida is wacky, wonderful, unpredictable and a national force. It's a treat to have a front-row seat for it all.


97 comments

  • Charles

    August 11, 2021 at 7:39 pm

    Henderson you just HAVE to take the cheap shot. It’s like a disease you have.
    Might I suggest RETIRING and try to reconnect with your soul and integrity (if there’s anything still there).
    You might have time to still make good.

    • Cindy

      August 20, 2021 at 1:39 pm

      You have marbles in your head too. Joe Henderson alerts the public to what is really happening in Florida. You must be old and refuse a Covid shot. YOU get out of the way so our people and their children are safe and taken care of by sane and logical people. Not Hitler DeSantis.

    • Robert K Vukovic

      August 21, 2021 at 5:46 pm

      C’mon Chuck, attacking the messenger instead of trying to debunk the message is evasive but it is very Trumpian if that’s what you were going for.

      The polling numbers don’t lie, they’re pretty much consistent among most of the reputable pollsters.

      As far as the narrative goes, Author Henderson simply puts DeSantis’ public record and positions on display as they speak clearly for themselves.

      So what part of this is the “cheap shot”?

  • Joe Henderson

    August 11, 2021 at 7:56 pm

    Nah, Charles. I’ll stick around. What would you do for your nightly troll stroll if I left?

    • Tom

      August 12, 2021 at 10:03 am

      Joe, I replied earlier but just to share, this incompetent WH team made a deliberate decision to meddle with America’s Governor. The fake CDC numbers were for Nikki Fraud to use.
      FDOH straightened CDC and Fraud out. Media Liberal scream followed. Cheap shot number one. Second error In which WH did and I mentioned last week is engaging Gov Ron. POTUS sat next to Gov at Surfside, regardless they have made DeSantis the non past POTUS 45 favorite. He is a walking legend now in the Republican conservative movement.
      I recall when you stated that Gov over reacted to Charlie’s initial announcement and criticism. You felt he took the bait. This inept WH staff and POTUS fell into the bucket. Just saying. They did him a huge favor for 22 and 24.

      • Steve Keller

        August 14, 2021 at 4:41 am

        Do stupidity and ignorance NEVER see themselves for what they are in your case?

    • GD

      August 12, 2021 at 10:41 am

      Great honest article Joe. Sadly reading the comments apparently the right can’t stand the truth.
      And DeSantis like Trump, doubles down on stupid.
      And deluding themselves DeSantis will win after this fiasco he has shown what he really is and the middle that counts, is not pleased.
      And this is not over as we are just in the beginning of the surge which will end up infecting most everyone who isn’t vaccinated and kill, make too many kids sick many with long covid.

    • Lorraine

      August 12, 2021 at 11:56 am

      I have never read you Joe but loved your article & you are saying in print what many of us ( that are intelligent) are also thinking & saying
      I am from NYS and am appalled that so many parents here are willing to sacrifice their children as pawns for the political ambitions of this Gov – As one Infectious Dr in Alabama stated on TV – De Santis is a medical abuser
      I am slowly making a decision to leave this state in the not too distant future / a beautiful state being run by a dangerous maniac
      BTW- reading some of the comments here show me that Florida seems to be sinking into a swamp – anyone that approves of De S has a serious mental issue

      • Tom

        August 12, 2021 at 12:33 pm

        Nice of family to read! LMAO

    • Mike

      August 13, 2021 at 1:18 pm

      Good one Mr Henderson.
      Charles s….the….f….up

    • Tom Mueller

      August 14, 2021 at 4:25 am

      Thanks Joe for your astute observations about DeSantis. He has the intellectual potential to be a very effective governor. However to be so, he needs to think for himself and no be swayed by the opinions and rhetoric of the hard right. He made, as you stated, several well intentioned and thought out decisions when he first assumed office. If he has ambitions for higher office, he can only do so if he thinks for himself and maintains the courage to act on his principles.

  • Thomas Skiffington

    August 11, 2021 at 8:10 pm

    Great article I’m the the middle he lost

  • abert m

    August 11, 2021 at 8:29 pm

    You guys are funny , u guys are pumping up nikki fraud n the fip flopper christ all day long everyday hilarious by the way florida chamber of commerce had a poll the other day that had desantis at 54 percent approval n beating those two by 8 n 9 points it came out friday havent seen u guys put it up ??

    • Tom

      August 11, 2021 at 9:26 pm

      Correct abert!
      Sick haters.
      DeSantis the best!

  • James B

    August 11, 2021 at 8:50 pm

    Get DeSantis out of office before he kills are kids in Florida cause of this Cov 19 and the Delta Vices.

    • Tom

      August 11, 2021 at 9:25 pm

      James B , You are Ill.
      How dare you.
      Pathetic being

    • Lorraine

      August 12, 2021 at 11:59 am

      Totally agree with you James – those poor kids are being used by pawns by a crazy person

    • James S.

      August 13, 2021 at 5:11 pm

      And exactly how many kids have died here in Florida from COVID-19? Honest answer. I mean obviously you don’t care about the kids anyways, cause if you did you’d say something about the damage their under developed ears are suffering from due to the elastic straps or the psychological effects or maybe even their ability to speak words right due to the fact they can’t watch the teachers mouth pronounce the words. But hey, it may save their lives even though they only have a what? .0001% chance or something like that. But hey, I don’t live anywhere near Tampa. Maybe Tampa kids are more prone to catching it then our kids in the panhandle.

  • Dennis L.

    August 11, 2021 at 9:31 pm

    Maybe someone should remind our gov. what one of the main reasons why D.Trump lost in 2020 and yes he did lose. He would still be prez if he hadn’t botched his response to covid-19.

    • Tom P.

      August 12, 2021 at 8:33 am

      You mean the response that got the vaccine developed (in record time) that the left is so adamant that everyone take?

      • Tom

        August 12, 2021 at 9:04 am

        Yes, absolutely record production and delivery. The disingenuous media and Dems are pathetic. Operation warp speed greatest accomplishment since moon walk. Very true reply.
        Furthermore, we had 3.5% unemployed, all America was working, unemployment as of Feb 20. Now we have 5.5 unemployment and 10 million vacant jobs. Dems paying people not to work. Pathetic
        Total cover up.

        • tjb

          August 12, 2021 at 1:09 pm

          Again, Tom is giving fake numbers. Remember when it was 14.8 % when Trump was in the WH

          • Tom

            August 12, 2021 at 1:25 pm

            You are fake news liar.
            Height of pandemic numbers.
            CBS is reporting it today.
            That’s all you got?
            Desperate hater.

        • gene c

          August 13, 2021 at 3:45 pm

          Record time my a**. FACT: Both Pfizer and Moderna were working on the vaccine—January 2020—- while Trump was in total denial of Covid. FACT: Trump inherited Obama’s economy and better numbers and tried to hog all the credit—until the pandemic hit. Then Trump disappears like the little mouse he really is, with all his minions harping the election was stolen while 60 courts and judges said otherwise. Why do you keep spouting this crap?

          • Michael

            August 24, 2021 at 5:56 pm

            You’re right, Trump did inherit Obama’s economy. And it was an economy that was weak and growing at a snail’s pace.

            Trump knew, intuitively, what to do, and he had the guts to do it. And he did it for love of country. You ought to be grateful to him.

            You can try to wrest the credit from Trump and give it to Obama, but deep down, in the quiet moments, you know it was Trump who brought our country back to greatness.

        • Andrew R Romero

          August 14, 2021 at 10:12 am

          Hate to tell you this but Trumps distribution part of “Warp Speed” became a DUD. Because of that they came up very short of their goal on getting people vaccinated at that time. So when President Biden to office he revamped it and got the vaccines out in record time.

          • Fact Check

            August 14, 2021 at 10:25 am

            FactCheck Posts › Featured Posts
            Biden’s Misleading Vaccine Boasts

            By Lori Robertson, Eugene Kiely and D’Angelo Gore

            Posted on February 23, 2021

            In remarks at a Pfizer manufacturing site, President Joe Biden made misleading claims while boasting about his administration’s progress in getting Americans vaccinated against COVID-19.

            Biden claimed that the Trump administration had “failed to order enough vaccines.” It had contracts in place for plenty of vaccines for all Americans, provided other vaccines gained authorization; Biden increased the orders from the two companies with authorized vaccines.
            The president claimed there was “no real plan to vaccinate most of the country” when he took office. There was indeed a plan to acquire and distribute vaccines. The Biden administration has done more on increasing vaccination sites and vaccinators.
            Biden exaggerated when he claimed that vaccinations have “nearly doubled” on his watch. Even measured at its peak, the seven-day rolling average has gone up 67%.
            He said Moody’s Analytics estimated that if his full COVID-19 relief plan becomes law, “the economy will create 7 million jobs this year.” But the financial services firm said 3.5 million of those jobs would be created regardless.
            Biden said without his COVID-19 relief plan, 40 million Americans would lose their benefits under the federal nutrition program. To add context, Biden’s plan would extend a 15% benefit increase enacted in December for an additional three months.

            Biden spoke on Feb. 19 at Pfizer’s Kalamazoo, Michigan, manufacturing site.
            Ordering Enough Vaccines

            Biden claimed that the previous administration had “failed to order enough vaccines.” But that’s misleading.

            The Biden administration increased the federal government’s vaccine orders with Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech. But the Trump administration had options in place to order more from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech.

            The Trump administration also had contracted for even more doses from other companies, but that plan depended on those vaccines getting Food and Drug Administration authorization.

            “Just over four weeks ago, America had no real plan to vaccinate most of the country,” Biden said, going on to say his predecessor “failed to order enough vaccines, failed to mobilize the effort to administer the shots, failed to set up vaccine centers. That changed the moment we took office.”

            We’ll start with the claim that the Trump administration hadn’t ordered “enough vaccines.” As we’ve written before, the federal government, as of Dec. 31, had contracted to buy at least 800 million COVID-19 vaccine doses with delivery by July 31. Those doses included vaccines from four companies who have not yet received FDA authorization.

            And a Government Accountability Office report, released on Jan. 28, said in a footnote that updated information from the vaccine companies and the Department of Defense “indicate there are at least one billion vaccine doses under contract as of January 2021. Moreover, the government may acquire additional doses through the exercise of options or execution of new agreements.”

            So, the Trump administration had clearly ordered “enough” vaccine doses for the U.S. population. However, the issue right now is that only the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are authorized. (The FDA’s vaccine advisory committee is meeting on Feb. 26 to discuss the Janssen Biotech vaccine candidate.)

            In December, Pfizer and Moderna had agreed to provide 400 million doses (200 million each) by the end of July. The initial agreement with the Trump administration was for 200 million doses total from the two companies, but it made agreements for another 200 million total, according to the GAO report.

            The Biden administration announced this month the two companies would provide yet another 200 million doses by the end of July, for a total of 600 million.

            And Biden announced the federal government would get some of those doses sooner than previously expected, with 100 million of the doses from each company promised by the end of May, rather than the end of June.

            It’s worth noting that the Trump administration could have increased its order with Pfizer and Moderna as well. The U.S. government announced its initial agreement with Pfizer in July, contracting for 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine once it was approved. That agreement included an option to acquire an additional 500 million doses from Pfizer.

            Similarly, the government’s initial contract with Moderna, announced in August, was for 100 million doses of a vaccine once approved, with an option to buy another 400 million doses.

            As for Biden’s claim that there was “no real plan to vaccinate most of the country,” the Washington Post Fact Checker wrote about a similar claim from Vice President Kamala Harris. The Fact Checker explained that there were vaccination plans that the Biden administration had built upon. But the two administrations have a philosophical difference on how much of a role the federal government, as opposed to state and local entities, should play in vaccinating the country.

            On Sept. 16, nearly three months before the first FDA authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine, the Department of Health and Human Services, with support from the Department of Defense and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released a report to Congress, outlining a strategy for vaccine distribution and a playbook for states and localities “on how to plan and operationalize a vaccination response to COVID-19 within their respective jurisdictions,” according to the HHS press release.

            The Government Accountability Office, however, in a report released Jan. 28, said it had recommended that HHS go further to “establish a time frame for documenting and sharing a national plan for distributing and administering COVID-19 vaccine” including “how efforts would be coordinated across federal agencies and nonfederal entities.” GAO said that its recommendation hadn’t been “fully implemented.”

            Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN on Feb. 16 that there had been a vaccine distribution plan but a “rather vague” plan on “getting the vaccine doses into people’s arms.”

            “Getting the vaccines made, getting them shipped through Operation Warp Speed was okay,” Fauci said. “But I believe what the vice president is referring to is what is the process of actually getting these doses into people. That is something that we had to get much better organized now with getting the community vaccine centers, getting the pharmacies involved, getting mobile units involved.”

            The Biden administration has taken steps to increase the number of people who can administer the vaccines and where the shots can be given, including by shipping vaccines directly to retail pharmacies and opening mass vaccination sites operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. These steps have also come as vaccine availability has increased.
            Vaccine Supply

            Biden exaggerated when he claimed that vaccinations have “nearly doubled” on his watch.

            Biden, Feb. 19: We’re now at a point where we’ve seen the average daily number of people vaccinated nearly double, from the week before I took office, to about 1.7 million average per day getting a shot.

            Actually, on the day Biden spoke, the average daily number of people vaccinated had increased by 31% — not “nearly double.”

            On the day Biden took office, the seven-day “moving average” for the previous week was about 971,500 shots a day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker. By Feb. 19, when Biden visited Pfizer, the daily average was at 1,270,728 vaccinations.

            The average had been higher in the days before. On Feb. 14, the seven-day moving average hit a peak of 1,621,578. That’s a 67% increase — sizable, but still not “nearly double.”

            This is not the first time that Biden has exaggerated his administration’s progress in vaccinating the public.

            Earlier this month, Biden tweeted this about his promise to administer 100 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days in office: “With the progress we’re making I believe we’ll not only reach that, we’ll break it.” But, as we wrote, the seven-day daily average was at 1 million doses per day on Biden’s second day in office — so he was well on his way to meeting his 100-day goal.
            Moody’s Analytics Analysis

            Biden, as he has several times before, said “an analysis by the Wall Street firm Moody’s estimates that if we pass my American Rescue Plan, the economy will create 7 million jobs this year.”

            But the Jan. 15 analysis from Moody’s Analytics didn’t say Biden’s economic plan alone would be responsible for the addition of all those jobs, as the president’s statement could suggest.

            Moody’s said that, assuming Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan is fully enacted by March, gross domestic product would grow to 8% for 2021 and 4% in 2022. “At this pace of growth, the economy would create 7.5 million jobs in 2021 (December to December) and 2.5 million in 2022 to fully recover the jobs lost since the pre-pandemic peak,” the analysis said.

            The report, however, noted that projected economic growth “is almost double the growth that would be expected without any additional fiscal support.”

            The chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, Mark Zandi, who co-authored the analysis of Biden’s proposal, confirmed that means nearly half of the projected job gains for this year are likely to occur even if the president’s plan doesn’t become law.

            “If there is no additional fiscal support, the economy will create 3.5 million jobs during this period [December 2020 and December 2021], or 4 million less than if the Biden plan is passed,” Zandi told us in an email.

            At least one time, Biden himself has made that distinction more clear.

            “Wall Street investment firm, Moody’s, says if we pass the American Rescue Plan, it will lead to 4 million more jobs than otherwise would be created,” he said in Feb. 5 remarks at the White House, for example.
            Food Stamps

            In advocating for the American Rescue Plan, the president said “40 million Americans will lose nutritional assistance through a program we call SNAP, the old food stamp program” if the relief plan isn’t enacted.

            “Do we not invest $3 million — $3 billion to keep families from going hungry?” he said.

            That claim needs context.

            The White House transcript of Biden’s remarks added the words “some of their” in brackets before “nutritional assistance.” If Biden’s plan isn’t enacted, those Americans in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — 42.9 million as of September, the latest figures available — would lose “some of” their benefits, but not until the end of June.

            COVID-19 relief legislation passed in December put in place a 15% SNAP benefit increase that will last through June; Biden’s plan would extend that 15% boost until September. In announcing the plan in January, the White House said Biden “is also committed to providing this boost for as long as the COVID-19 crisis continues, and will work with Congress on ways to automatically adjust the length and amount of relief depending on health and economic conditions.”

      • Tom

        August 12, 2021 at 9:34 am

        Yes, absolutely record production and delivery. The disingenuous media and Dems are pathetic. Operation warp speed greatest accomplishment since moon walk. Very true reply.
        Furthermore, we had 3.5% unemployed, all America was working, unemployment as of Feb 20. Now we have 5.5 unemployment and 10 million vacant jobs.

      • Tom

        August 12, 2021 at 9:35 am

        Yes. Operation warp speed, greatest accomplished effort since Apollo moon walk! POTUS 45.

        • Helen

          August 12, 2021 at 11:54 am

          It probably was a mistake not to make public that the technology (mRNA), used for vaccine development has about 20 years of research behind it (I am a virologist who has worked in exactly those technologies) big farma like Pfizer and Moderna (which by the way did not receive a penny from the Trump admin) have always a collection of stuff ready to go, they have been working on coronavirus vaccines for a while . Knowing the true development of the vaccines may help those that are still hesitant. No, Pfizer and Moderna did not develop the vaccines in one year is more than 21 years. That is actually a big part of what they do. Is it money always a good incentive? Yes off course but that was pennies compared with their licensing fees and stock gains. This is what modern science CAN do, that is why NIH always invest in forward thinking tech. is a pitty that everybody wants to use it as a political football.

          • Lorraine

            August 12, 2021 at 12:06 pm

            Thank you Helen, for your information -> unfortunately not many people will be able to read this
            Many of us especially here in Florida are shocked at how things are going because of mean spirited/ moronic local leadership & immoral medical decisions -> can only hope that someday they will be held accountable for their horrors

          • Tom

            August 12, 2021 at 12:27 pm

            La la la, liberal Wah, Wah.
            Helen, Lorraine. No one said it hasn’t been researched. Are you kidding me.
            You bots are priceless. It was 45 himself who pushed it through. His team pushed the concept to fund all.
            It is correct that Pfizer did not to create, all of them have been paid by the US govt to produce it. You are arguing over semantics. The Trump team and the Feds did a great job!
            The rest you are saying is meaningless.
            You both prove how brainwashed in your Dem liberal cocoon you are.
            How’s your corrupt Dem Govs doing?
            LMAO

          • Michael

            August 24, 2021 at 6:25 pm

            As you well know Helen, that is not true. It was President Trump who guaranteed their investment by being willing to buy the doses whether the succeed or fail.

            But you know this & yet still chose to mislead people with “didn’t receive a dime from Trump”.

            Most lefties/haters I’ve encountered do as you do – anything from mislead to outright lie.

            Your hatred of President Trump must have *some* limit. There must be somewhere you won’t go, something you absolutely refuse to do, in spite of your hatred of President Trump.

        • Helen

          August 12, 2021 at 2:31 pm

          Dear lord for somebody like you to even bring out the term corruption is a sign of very low critical thinking skills. Cuomo corruption was proven by fellow democrats and was forced from office that is how the system suppose to work. In the meantime Governors in FL, TX, Louisiana, Mississippi,Tennessee , etc. should try somehow to be less incompetent and deal with the dumpster fire of coronavirus cases without begging for help from the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. In this country everyone is entitled to their own opinion, you will be well served by keeping yours away from me. Remember the old adage: “it is better to stay quiet and let people think you are stupid, than open your mouth and confirm their suspicions”

          • Tom

            August 12, 2021 at 2:53 pm

            Yes please follow your own advice.
            Ignorant one
            Cuomo, Cuomo fondler.

          • gene c

            August 13, 2021 at 3:49 pm

            Great comment Helen.

        • Mary Snow

          August 12, 2021 at 7:20 pm

          Warp speed? I’m in FL. While trump was in office, the only local place I could get vaccinated was at Publix. And they were always booked. Or, the county fairgrounds 50 miles away. And they would run out of vaccines and turn people away.
          Biden takes office suddenly all Walgreens and others have the vaccine.
          Desantis is playing politics with a VIRUS! How arrogant is that?
          Trump lost. Desantis will lose too.

          • Tom

            August 13, 2021 at 6:10 am

            Yes you fool.
            Warp speed, major accomplishment.

  • abert m

    August 11, 2021 at 10:07 pm

    All i can say is get ready for liberal tears on day after election on november 2022 .Desantis wins by at least 5 points n if florida politics is basing bad polling on st.pete polls good luck theyve were wrong on governors race n senate race in 2018 n wrong with trump n biden they had biden up 4 in last poll n biden lost by almost 4 n 8 point swing so again put up chamber of commerce poll that came out friday or maybe it doesnt fit ur liberal agenda.

    • Mary Snow

      August 12, 2021 at 7:28 pm

      My liberal tears are for the kids hospitalized with the Delta strain right now and those who will catch it in school because of governor Desantis is grandstanding on masks.
      Florida has the highest rate of kids and young people hospitalized with COVID. A perfectly healthy 24 year died of Delta because he wasn’t vaccinated and didn’t wear a mask.
      Desantis is killing off the people most likely to support his anti-mask BS.

  • Matt Collins

    August 11, 2021 at 10:21 pm

    The virus itself will convince people to wear masks and get vaccinated. It is already happening around the country. People can ignore it and make light of it and act all fearless right up until the moment that someone they know gets really sick. Then they take action. By the time the elections roll around it will be old news and he’ll be pushing a narrative that he was right all along that we didn’t need the very things that just saved us.

  • PeterH

    August 11, 2021 at 11:22 pm

    Excellent article. DeSantis has gone to the dark side of Trump’s worst policies. It’s difficult to watch! He must have poor advisors ….. but ultimately he must accept responsibility for his bad decisions. DeSantis is now in the international press ….. and not in a good way.

  • Patrick McCormick

    August 12, 2021 at 6:22 am

    Can no one in Florida spell?

    • Betsy Ross

      August 12, 2021 at 11:56 am

      Not this crowd, apparently. Asking for correct spelling is a violation of their right to look ignorant.

    • Helen

      August 12, 2021 at 11:58 am

      No 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🤣 many come here brain dead to day, and the school performance is among the worst in the country. So No, you are right!

      • gene c

        August 13, 2021 at 3:56 pm

        Agreed, Helen. Tom IS brain-dead and irretrievably stupid but I still enjoy his blatant stupidity.

    • Helen

      August 12, 2021 at 12:01 pm

      See, I just did it , in stead of die my autocorrect dicided on day 😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣😂😂😂🤣😂😂🤣😂😂😂

    • Lorraine

      August 12, 2021 at 12:10 pm

      No Patrick spelling is a weak theme here

      And seriously I think that a man just misspelled his own first name then went on to write who knows what !

  • Sonja Fitch

    August 12, 2021 at 6:35 am

    Yep I was ok with Desantis! Perfect? Hell no! But I was hoping some of his rational decisions would be ok! But the damn mf is willingly slaughtering Floridians! Even worse is Duffus Desantis is using our children for his own political bs! Lock him up ! Duffus Desantis is criminally responsible for our children that die or harmed by covid! Sir Duffus Desantis you are a damn killer!

    • Ed

      August 12, 2021 at 8:05 am

      Morning words of wisdom from the trailer park.

      • zhombre

        August 12, 2021 at 10:38 am

        Well, yeah, this is the kind of shit you write when you have bourbon with your grits for breakfast.

      • Lorraine

        August 12, 2021 at 12:13 pm

        Trailer Park ? Really? Is condescending a quality of yours?
        Feel badly for anyone in your household
        You are rude & crude
        Say something intelligent or don’t bother

        • Zhombre

          August 12, 2021 at 12:43 pm

          I find your comments above to be condescending toward many Floridians, so I consider you hardly in a position to criticize. Perhaps you should accelerate your decision to leave the state and return to New York and leave us unintelligent Floridians to your own devices. You’ll be happier there, eve after the loss of the Emmy-winning governor.

          • Zhombre

            August 12, 2021 at 12:44 pm

            * … our own devices …

          • Lorraine

            August 12, 2021 at 1:03 pm

            If the shoe fits….
            This comment is meant for you
            I live in a neighborhood with wonderful people & they are all Floridians
            I am not so shallow to generalize about a state or its people
            But I sure enough know how to pinpoint a target of my words – because it looks like you did not comprehend correctly -> go back & – reread it / there was only 1 person that I “ zinged” not all Floridians
            But moving on – your leadership in this state in my opinion is dangerous / medically inept/ immoral / politically motivated/ cruel and criminal
            And if you are a follower or supporter of those qualities than you & your type are not the kind of people that I care to spend my life around
            Florida is one of the most beautiful states ( and I have been to 38, so far) but there are a lot of hard core scary & dangerous people that are taking it down ( my opinion, of course)
            Getting new leadership in your next election might make a big difference – & maybe I will just stick around and add my money & voice & vote to making a big change 😷👍

          • Zhombre

            August 12, 2021 at 1:25 pm

            I realize you ‘zinged’ Ed for his comment but I alluded to comments you made earlier posted at 11:56 am to be precise, that intelligent people think and speak as you do and, obviously, only unintelligent people disagree with you. And that “Florida seems to be sinking into a swamp – anyone that approves of De S has a serious mental issue.” Rather generalizing and condescending toward millions of Floridians, who whatever their reasons or level of intelligence, do not share your opinions.

    • Lorraine

      August 12, 2021 at 1:40 pm

      Sonja wanted to respond to you before I got off this site

      You are the only one that actually is saying what many are thinking ->!this Gov is a criminal with all his “ freedom” that are bullied on other people he has put many in harm’s way -> especially with those of us that have compromised immune systems/ seniors and now our little babies in schools
      This so reminds me of the situation in Newton, CT when innocent children were slaughtered by a mentally ill gunman for what reason?

      And I am comparing those deaths to what is going on in Florida – no mandating masks in schools for children who are not vaccinated ?
      Fines for superintendents who want to mandate / possible state funding to be taken away
      All this horror being threatened NOT by a gunman but by a bully with a demented mind
      If and when children in hospitals begin to die then this act has no other name but murder by these children being put directly in harms way
      When all of this is over I only hope that people will begin to bring criminal charges against this man & his advisors

      • Zhombre

        August 12, 2021 at 3:39 pm

        “If and when children in hospitals begin to die then this act has no other name but murder by these children being put directly in harms way.” IF. Assuming, arguendo, that this Herod-like massacre of the innocents does NOT occur, will you be satisfied only to charge DeSantis with attempted murder? Or does righteous anger demand blood?

      • Tom

        August 13, 2021 at 6:14 am

        Lorraine, you are an idiot and it is pathetic as to what you say and state bout the Governor. Very ugly and mentally disturbing just like Red Sonja. You are disgusting.

  • Andy M

    August 12, 2021 at 7:12 am

    Wear a mask and get vaxed and we can get this behind us.

    DeSantis will soon try to make his way back to the middle, you can bet on it. I’ll never vote for him. As a dem I was really impressed with him when he 1st was elected. Now he is all about the red meat, voting rights, no mask, stripping local home rule, dictating to companies what they can do and not do. It’s sad.. The number 1 priority for any elected official in his position is to keep its citizens safe! He is failing miserably in this area.

    • Lorraine

      August 12, 2021 at 12:45 pm

      As an Independent The only thing that I was impressed with was his degrees and the 2 places he got them from -> Harvard & Yale
      I often wonder if those two schools try to avoid his name and the embarrassment that his name might cause
      I watched & saw what this state was getting as far as Covid supplies – we never lacked for anything/ Ron asked & Don provided -> digging himself into an indebtedness that made them joined at the hip
      I have enjoyed the glorious beauty of this state for 5 years but I have also endured & been horrified & disgusted by the inhuman leadership of a bully
      My ONLY decision is 1) do I stay and try to help defeat him in the next election ?OR 2) do I sell & leave within a few months and be done forever with the stress from him & his followers ?

      • Zhombre

        August 12, 2021 at 12:46 pm

        (2)

  • Tom

    August 12, 2021 at 7:18 am

    Joe, Governor Ron, America’s Governor is dealing with A 100 year pandemic. Of course all the know it all’s think they know better. The Governor had been balanced in his approach towards protecting individual liberty and freedoms but still protecting the public health. He study’s the science and attempts to provide reasonable policy. He is not a lock down Governor, like Cuomo, Newsom and Whitmer who both decimated their local state economies. DeSantis has many wins. He kept Florida prospering with jobs, economic growth, insisted Schools open, led seniors vaccinated, public private education expansion, raised teachers pay, provided bonuses to first responders and educators, cleaner waterways and environmental policy, along with many more efforts. His efforts on Covid have been strong as Floridians take responsibility for life choices. That’s not to say the Governor can’t do better or improve. Politics, serving as governmental leader is not a zero sum game.
    As the youngest Governor he makes a positive difference in the lives of Floridians. America’s Governor is a B plus minimum in overall grade. DeSantis wins Nov/22 by 10 pts. If a Presidential run offers itself time will tell. He would be smart to remember that all politics is local. And stay focused that way. Compared to other Governors, especially Democrats, he stands on Angels wings. One opponent is shrill and representS extremism. The other excites no one and has no credibility with the extremist faction. Big win coming!

    • Ron R. Jeremy

      August 12, 2021 at 11:53 am

      Can you suck any harder?

      • Zhombre

        August 12, 2021 at 12:12 pm

        A guy named Ron Jeremy shouldn’t ask about people sucking.

      • Tom

        August 12, 2021 at 1:20 pm

        Go get fondled by cuomo.
        Ask Newsom to lock u down some more. Or whitmer will tell u, u can’t garden or boat or ask northam how to put black k face on. U dim wit, that’s your Dem Govs. America’s Gov stands on Angels wings compared to your garbage and the rest of you pathetic haters! That’s NY, Cali, MI & VA. They are abbreviations for states.
        LMAO. Cry eye
        DeSantis wins especially by 12.pts or more if cannabis, stalker, flip flopper, fraud is candidate. Just saying.

  • Denmark

    August 12, 2021 at 8:25 am

    DeSantis is doing what he was elected to do: resist the left. Joe Henderson doesn’t like him because Joe is a liberal. End of story. I hope that DeSantis does start dunning salaries in Broward County and that Biden intervenes and tries to pay the rebellious board of eduvation. Then it will become a federalism issue in the courts, specifically the 11th circuit, which won’t put up with federal intervention in state election policy.

  • Zhombre

    August 12, 2021 at 8:28 am

    Of course, things change Ten months ago, Andrew Cuomo was heaped with fulsome praise in the media and featured in Palm Beach County Dem fundraiser with Nikki Fried and Val Demings. Ten months from today, DeSantis may be looking at an easy re-election.

  • Oxo

    August 12, 2021 at 8:47 am

    DeSatanism, pure and simple. He’s toast. Burnt toast.

  • Scott Herbst

    August 12, 2021 at 9:28 am

    Desantis is as dangerous as Trump was. They’ll both get what they deserve in the end.

    • Tom

      August 12, 2021 at 9:37 am

      Yes, I agree. DeSantis will be reelected in a landslide. Trump can stay in Mar A Lago!

      • Tjb

        August 12, 2021 at 10:38 am

        Not to get too personal, Tom. but are you romantically involved with DeSantis?

        • Scott Kirkland

          August 12, 2021 at 11:23 am

          Just what I would expect a Libtard to say. DeSantis will win re-election easily. Suggest you return to NYC or NJ or Oregon or California, or Chicago, or Connecticut or whatever socialist rock you crawled out from under. Their governance is working so well you should join them and enjoy the big quality of life improvements they offer….

    • Lorraine

      August 12, 2021 at 1:06 pm

      I, for 1 agree with you – hope they both get exactly what they desire !!

      Criminals -> both !

  • Tony Peppers

    August 12, 2021 at 10:48 am

    All things aside, calling a politicians critics “haters” will never not be cringy.

    • Zhombre

      August 12, 2021 at 11:05 am

      There’s ample antipathy to go around. Do you think Sonja’s denmeted post above is not ‘cringy’? Or do you find the appellation DeSatanism to be a reasonable form of criticism?

    • Tom

      August 12, 2021 at 11:45 am

      Tony Proven, another hater speaks!
      America’s Governor stands on Angels wings. How’s your Dums Govs doing?
      Cuomo, resigned a fondler disgrace. Decimated N Y while profiting $5 million later, 15,000 seniors dead.
      Newsom likely to lose recall after losing a million jobs state wide. Whitmer in serious trouble, you couldn’t even garden, let alone boat.
      Fraud will tell Floridians no boats, LMAO.
      Northam, the black face Gov.
      You can’t make it up.
      You Dums are a disgrace.
      Go watch joy less Reid.
      Tony U bots are fools and haters!

  • Cliff Gephart

    August 12, 2021 at 10:49 am

    I honestly think that Ron DeSantis is struggling with his mental health right now. It’s the only reasonable excuse for the wild and unexcusable actions he’s taking right now.
    Hope he get’s the help he needs.

    • Tom

      August 12, 2021 at 11:48 am

      Hardly!

    • Tom

      August 12, 2021 at 11:54 am

      Hardly! Such a fool u are.
      Really?
      He’s Stalked by a fraudster cannabis stalker!
      100 yr pandemic
      Hostile media
      And hate from Manchurian bots like yourself.
      America’s Governor stands on Angels wings compared to the garbage thrown his way. Hi we your Dums Govs doing? See/read above

  • bishop jerome

    August 12, 2021 at 11:06 am

    PEOPLE ARE DYING AND SENIORS SLAUGHTERED AND YOU ARGUE ABOUT POLITICS

    WAKE UP AND SMELL THE FAUCI

    PLAYWRIGHT DR LD
    MYERS

    ADVANCED CATHOLIC

    HAS ANSWERS IN HIS

    “AMBIDEXTERITY”
    a Covid/vaccination epic six feet apart gloved masked found theater space

  • PeterH

    August 12, 2021 at 12:02 pm

    Exactly. Thank you for addressing this fact. I had almost forgotten about it.

  • Ocean Joe

    August 12, 2021 at 6:35 pm

    Enjoyed the comments, but something was missing: Zombe didn’t mention Hunter’s laptop. Tom seems apoplectic in his fervant defense of the governor and his beloved GOP and his Cuomo fetish, Sonja was relatively toned down; Ed was not the hilarious smart aleck he usually is; Lorraine popped in from New York (welcome Lorraine, I’ve been here 65 years…you will not change these people); and Dr. Larry Meyers still hasn’t disclosed the price of tickets to his plays nor learned to use lower and upper case letters normally.
    That said, our governor stepped in it. His obstinance reveals him to be like the guy who gets lost and drives for hours refusing to ask for directions. We have not had a governor since Claude Kirk who was as controversial, or combative. Kirk made a lot of outrageous statements but he was harmless because he was kept in check by a Democratic legislature. There are absolutely no checks or balances on Desantis (other than federal courts) as his reckless behavior demonstrates constantly.
    He loses when fatigue sets in. Fatigue of all the MAGA stuff. Fatigue of fighting with the press. Fatigue of dragging Florida into one unnecessary battle after another. If folks like all the bickering, he’s in good shape for 2022.

    • Tom

      August 13, 2021 at 6:07 am

      Sorry Ocean Joe, I’ll defend this man who believes in the Fed. Const. and Bill of Rights so much that he fights to ensure all, each of your liberty and freedom even though you denounce him. You have Camelot in Tallahassee, if this was a Dem the media would be spewing Camelot tales.
      Governor Ron , America’s Governor has a long record of accomplishment to run on. I’ve shared it earlier and elsewhere. Cuomo fetish?
      13 women assaulted,, $5 million book deal on deceased Covid. 15,000 deceased seniors. Just sharing his pathetic behavior along with other inept Dem Govs. Feel free to defend Northams black face, Whitmers lockdown with no gardening and Calis Newsom Sept. recall. What you refer to as fatigue some call his efforts to challenge orthodoxy. This WH, CDC raised Covid infections and Fraud announced them over weekend. Dums WH staff has built Gov. Ron up and made him a hero in conservative and Republican movement. DeSantis is a serious political figure and he has much to say before next November’s re election. Dems don’t stand a chance.

  • Mary Snow

    August 12, 2021 at 7:34 pm

    Warp speed? I’m in FL. While trump was in office, the only local place I could get vaccinated was at Publix. And they were always booked. Or, the county fairgrounds 50 miles away. And they would run out of vaccines and turn people away.
    Biden takes office suddenly all Walgreens and others have the vaccine.
    Desantis is playing politics with a VIRUS! How arrogant is that?
    Trump lost. Desantis will lose too.

  • PeterH

    August 12, 2021 at 10:16 pm

    Dear Carol,

    Most intelligent Americans are not interested in reading right wing fake news nonsense on Rumble dot com! Good grief! Follow the science, get vaccinated, wear a mask to protect yourself and others.

    • Tom

      August 13, 2021 at 9:52 pm

      Don’t know rumble
      Don’t know right wing fake news
      I do know left wing papers, nets & cable with liberal scream lies.
      Pathetic. How’s your cuomo doing.
      How’s the fondling ? How’s blsck face Giv of VA. How’s recall Newsom?
      Demtards ?

    • Michael Patrick Milligan

      August 24, 2021 at 6:42 pm

      Lefties accusing righties of fake news is what you call rich. You guys invented fake news. Go read the Time Magazine article.

      The left’s very willingness to mislead, deceive, and outright lie, proves that it cannot backup its point with truth. It proves that leftists themselves know that President Trump was a successful, even great president for us.

      And that’s one of the main reasons for your extreme hatred.

      But it doesn’t change the simple fact that Donald Trump was a fantastic President.

  • Tom

    August 13, 2021 at 9:17 am

    Lorraine You are ill.
    We have a screened room for you with red Sonja, the trailer house. Enjoy

  • Jim Roeper

    August 13, 2021 at 4:11 pm

    Spot on, Joe. Lots of people I talk to don’t like that Desantis is obviously running for president instead of running Florida. That’s not leadership, it’s careerism.

    Maybe 30% of his constituents love it, but they’re not the majority of us.

  • Tom

    August 13, 2021 at 9:16 pm

    Typical Dummycrat.
    You are a fool, America’s Governor gives you your freedom. Unlike Fraud or Crist who would lock you down.You are just a partisan hack, 30% my eye! DeSantis by 10pts in Nov22.

  • Anthony

    August 14, 2021 at 12:45 am

    I am a born and raised Floridian, as well as a recently retired Air Force combat veteran, and without hesitation, I would lay down my life for God, Country, and the awesome state of Florida. What my teammates and I fought for was not about Democrats or Republicans, it was about freedom of choice. Choices that when exercised, does not risk harm to others that are also choosing freely. So it truly pains me to the core to watch as our Governor attempts to use those hard fought for freedoms of choice as a pretext for the unreasonable, and nonsensical directives that impose on the choices of fellow Floridians.

  • oxo

    August 14, 2021 at 8:37 am

    NEW – Department of Health Report on positive cases in Florida schools
    Click here for the FLDOH Pediatric Report (DeSantis ordered this site not to be updated )

  • Tom

    August 17, 2021 at 8:17 am

    Disappointed in you both Anthony & Oxo,
    Oxo and his conspiracy theory’s.
    Anthony, Gov Ron is laying down his life for you.
    He’s being pilloried related to upholding the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Disappointed in your cheap shots. What do you and all the know it alls want accomplished? There is no playbook with a 100 year pandemic. Governor is using common sense and balancing it with policy that respects individual rights.

  • Tom

    August 17, 2021 at 8:28 am

    Disappointed in you both Anthony & Oxo,
    Oxo and his conspiracy theory’s.
    Anthony, Gov Ron is laying down his life for you and all freedom loving freedoms.
    He’s being pilloried related to upholding the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Disappointed in your cheap shots. What do you and all the know it alls want accomplished? There is no playbook with a 100 year pandemic. Governor is using common sense and balancing it with policy that respects individual rights.

Comments are closed.


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