Nikki Fried gloats over GOP ‘disarray’

nikki fried
'Who’s driving the clown car?'

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried is celebrating what she sees as failures from her Republican counterparts. But the leader of the Florida GOP says voters are rejecting the “radical agenda” of the opposition party.

Fried is enthusing about what she sees as a strong position for her party in the state: “In a world where Ron DeSantis is nationally irrelevant, Florida House Speaker Paul Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo can’t get on the same page, and the Republican Party is a dumpster fire, we have to ask ourselves — who’s driving the clown car?”

Fried, of course, is referring to the seeming eclipse of the Governor’s presidential hopes and some outstanding issues between the Senate and House, both of which have Republican supermajorities through next month’s Sine Die.

The Chair then recapped various controversies from the week

Last week, the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Florida put forward a legislative agenda that read like a Donald Trump fever dream — complete with a bonkers proposal to let people buy groceries with gold — that had no mention of property insurance, affordability or any other major problems facing Floridians,” she said.

That’s a reference to 10 bills that were part of the Florida GOP’s top legislative priorities, such as ending “forced pc pronouns,” lowering the age for gun purchases and mandating homeless camps in counties in lieu of public “camping.”

“Now, Kathleen Passidomo has all but promised that none of their out-of-touch culture war priorities are going to be passed into law,” Fried said, referring to the Senate President’s comments on legislation banning Pride flags from public spaces and giving the Governor the right to remove local officials who take down Confederate monuments.

“Meanwhile, Ron DeSantis is desperately trying to garner attention by backpedaling from the book banning mess he personally created,” Fried added. She cited a Florida Politics story in which the Governor sought to put the brakes on serial challenges to controversial books that have created unintended consequences for school districts.

Whether Republicans return to “array” between now and the end of the Legislative Session in March is to be determined.

Republican Party of Florida Chair Evan Power offered rebuttal, pointing to a scoreboard of GOP wins.

“The real clown is Nikki Fried. Florida Democrats’ plunging registration numbers speak to her leadership. The Florida Legislature is fresh off the most conservative Session in Florida history. Republicans continue to deliver for Floridians while Democrats continue to push a radical agenda that is being rejected by more and more Floridians every day,” Power said Friday.

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has been the Northeast Florida correspondent for Florida Politics since 2014. He writes for the New York Post and National Review also, with previous work in the American Conservative and Washington Times and a 15+ year run as a columnist in Folio Weekly. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


18 comments

  • JD

    February 16, 2024 at 11:38 am

    Like Evan Power has anything apt to say about good choices.

    Let’s replay his DUI video again for all to view.

    Chump.

    “ONLY THE BEST PEOPLE”

  • Leonard

    February 16, 2024 at 12:44 pm

    Fried knows a lot about irrelevance. The Rs may be dysfunctional but they dominate Florida politics because their policies are far more popular than the Marxist ideology pushed by Ds….and of course the Ds have the most unpopular President in modern history leading them. What a mess. It’s no wonder people are fleeing both parties.

    • Hung Wiil

      February 16, 2024 at 2:23 pm

      They aren’t fleeing any party. They are going to vote D or R, and that is all that matters at the end of the day. Fleeing too where?

    • MH/Duuuval

      February 16, 2024 at 2:28 pm

      Sorry, but every poll taken has put DJT as the worst EVER.

    • rick whitaker

      February 16, 2024 at 9:38 pm

      leonard, just what marxist ideology is being pushed by the dems? all my friends and family are dems, and we aren’t pushing anything or fleeing anywhere. don’t believe what steve bannon and fox say, you are just a rube customer to them.

  • BGD

    February 16, 2024 at 1:43 pm

    Nikki “Loser” Fried. Her agenda could not even win her the nomination of her own party in the race for governor. She lost to a guy who lost by 20 points. And she is person the Dems chose as their leader? Comical.

    • PeterH

      February 16, 2024 at 5:10 pm

      Cry louder BGD

  • BGD

    February 16, 2024 at 1:44 pm

    Nikki “Loser” Fried. Her agenda could not even win her the nomination of her own party in the race for governor. She lost to a guy who lost by 20 points. And she is the person the Dems chose as their leader? Comical.

    • MH/Duuuval

      February 16, 2024 at 2:32 pm

      George McGovern was crushed in 1972, but the winner Nixon shortly afterwards was forced to resign.

      Dee has been AWOL for months and no lieutenant governor in sight.

      The good news is Dee can’t live in the mansion past 2026 and he’ll have to find a job and lodging — like the rest of us (if we had billionaire friends.)

  • Jack

    February 16, 2024 at 8:27 pm

    It’s really hilarious watching Democrats gloat and talk trash about the GOP when they themselves have been a complete dumpster fire for years and got annihilated in the last election.

    Keep gloating, Nikki. That’s about all you ever do.

    • rick whitaker

      February 16, 2024 at 9:31 pm

      jack, so you are saying, gloat, yes i agree. the maga has messed up so much, how could dems NOT gloat. it’s great. btw, the last election, was the last election. see you at the 2024 election win party. maybe even you can become a team player by then.

  • JD

    February 16, 2024 at 10:18 pm

    Funny thing is, Nikki Fried doesn’t have a DUI arrest video. Just a sit-in arrest for protesting HandMaiden abortion laws.

    Nobody likes the Republican agenda anymore because there isn’t one. It’s all about the grift, no governance.

    F@ck the FLGOP. Clean up your party. Shameless a$$holes.

    • Dont Say FLA

      February 20, 2024 at 9:23 pm

      Oh yeah that’s right. I forgot about that, one of Rhonda’s earliest back downs. Ms Fried and Ms Book got themselves arrested because they had the means to challenge Rhonda’s abortion ban in court. So Rhonda backed immediately down, dropping all charges. Rhonda didn’t want (yet another) loss in court. So in a move foreshadowed the total failure of his campaign, Rhonda backed down.

  • Mayorkas Impeached

    February 17, 2024 at 2:13 pm

    Once again Gancarski trying to get a date with the irrelevant and has been Nikki Fried. She still can not beat DeSantis in any election. Go away Nikki, you are very unlikeable.

    • Ron Forrest Ron

      February 20, 2024 at 9:27 pm

      Ron DeSantis’s biggest fan says somebody is very unlikeable.

      Thanks for that belly laugh, Ron’s biggest fan. I needed that.

      How’s the new dog, by the way? Did the poor thing make a successful run for it yet?

  • Dont Say FLA

    February 19, 2024 at 9:54 am

    Folks be rambling on about Nikki Fried personally but, as usual, have nothing to say about what she said. Because she’s right.

    • Mayorkas Impeached

      February 19, 2024 at 9:32 pm

      Was she right about Rebecca Jones being a scientist? Rebecca wrote porn on the internet about her college fun boy toy. She is no scientist. Maybe her future is in Only Fans.

      • Dont Say FLA

        February 20, 2024 at 3:03 pm

        More ad hominem from MI. Never on topic. Always trying to change the topic to “personal”

        I will say this: If Ron DeSantis can be considered an Ivy League educated attorney, Rebecca Jones can definitely be considered a scientist, type of data.

Comments are closed.


#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, Anne Geggis, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Gray Rohrer, Jesse Scheckner, Christine Sexton, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704