Staff Reports
Last Call — A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio says Hispanic voters are flipping from the Democratic Party to the GOP because of border issues.
During an appearance on Fox & Friends, the Republican Senator said the Democratic Party doesn’t see treat the border crisis as a priority because they are “controlled by a bunch of rich, affluent progressives who live in cities, neighborhoods, and trendy places where they don’t have to deal with the consequences of it.”
Rubio said that being against strict enforcement of border crossings, Democrats are tacitly supporting “open borders.” He then linked border crossings to crime rates and the opioid crisis.
“The consequence of that is not just what’s going to be over a million people in just 18 months entering the country illegally — that we know of. The other consequence of it, which I think begins to deserve more attention, is fentanyl, the drugs that are pouring into our streets and just wiping people out.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has seen records set in the number of monthly border crossings several times over the past two years. In May, CBP stopped about 239,000 migrants.
Rubio added, “If a million people come into a country illegally, there is no doubt that some percentage of them is going to be violent, dangerous people, probably violent, dangerous people you’ve kicked out already in the past. You’re going to increase crime in our cities, especially in cities where prosecutors won’t prosecute and judges won’t put people in jail.”
First Lady Jill Biden’s recent gaffe, in which she compared Hispanic people to breakfast tacos, is also not helping Democrats retain Hispanic voters, Rubio added, calling it another symptom of supposed elitism.
“Well, personally, I identify as a Cuban sandwich …. Those are speeches that are probably written by some young person who majored in Latinx studies at Columbia University or something. Then they write the stuff up because their entire agenda, the entire Democratic agenda, is designed to cater to the pet issues of affluent liberals living in trendy neighborhoods and expensive cities far away from the consequences of the things they’re for,” he said.
Evening Reads
—“Gov. Ron DeSantis suspends Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren” via Kelly Hayes and Gray Rohrer of Florida Politics
—”DeSantis a willing warrior as conservatives lean into gender and sexual identity fights” via Alex Roarty and Bianca Padró Ocasio of the Miami Herald
—“Who is Warren? Meet the Tampa prosecutor DeSantis just removed” via Kirby Wilson and Dan Sullivan of the Tampa Bay Times
—“Warren’s suspension draws Democrats’ denunciations” via Anne Geggis of Florida Politics
—“A key ingredient to flip the House: A wave of Latino GOP candidates” via Ally Mutnick of POLITICO
—“What we can learn from Kansas” via Judd Legum of Popular Information
—”Advocates plan to rally at state medical board meeting in support gender-affirming care” via Christine Jordan Sexton of Florida Politics
—“Nikki Fried blasts DeSantis for ‘perverted’ lies about school lunch funding” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
—“In older congressional District 11, two Republicans under 30 are challenging Daniel Webster” via The Ledger
—“Election 2022: District 15 Republicans face off in Nassau County and west and north Duval” via Matt Soergel of The Florida Times-Union
—”‘Never seen it this bad’: America faces catastrophic teacher shortage” via Hannah Natanson of The Washington Post
—”A stranger filmed her on the train. TikTok users decided she had monkeypox.” via Madison Malone Kircher of The New York Times
Quote of the Day
“In our community, crime is low, our Constitutional rights — including the right to privacy — are being upheld, and the people have the right to elect their own leaders — not have them dictated by an aspiring presidential candidate who has shown time and again he feels accountable to no one. Just because the Governor violates your rights, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
— State Attorney Andrew Warren, after Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended him.
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