Gov. DeSantis rejects ‘chatter’ that he’s losing ‘grip’ over Florida Republicans

Florida’s Governor is taking heat from the Tampa Bay Times and other outlets for having lost control of Republicans in the state in the wake of vociferous condemnation of the now-scuttled “Great Outdoors Initiative” to bring hotels and golf courses to parks.

But Gov. Ron DeSantis suggests those critiques are misplaced.

“First of all, I’ve never categorized (it) as me having a grip on anything,” DeSantis said while speaking to press at the Citrus County Property Appraiser’s Office in Crystal River.

DeSantis said as Governor, he simply has “an ability to set an agenda and deliver the agenda,” before chiding unnamed people for “misunderstanding politics.”

“They try to make everything so political about, you know, this person is dictating,” he said. DeSantis said that what people see as a “grip” on the Legislature really is an ability to work together with lawmakers on fighting “illegal immigration,” forging “economic policy,” and battling with “(Joe) Biden’s border crisis.”

DeSantis, who routinely posts conservative outlets’ articles on his X account, said he doesn’t pay attention to media talk.

“I’ve never been one to follow chatter at all. I do not care about it. I don’t read the chatter. I don’t listen to the chatter. I don’t do anything because the chatter changes, you know, on a daily basis, news cycles change. That is not the way you can be a leader, by worrying about chatter,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis disowned the aforementioned “Great Outdoors Initiative” on Wednesday, falsely claiming the state’s Department of Environmental Protection didn’t announce the plan on Election Day last week.

“A lot of that stuff was just half-baked and it was not ready for prime time when it was,” he said at a press conference. “And it was intentionally leaked out to a left-wing group to try to create a narrative.”