‘Leadership matters’: Joseph Ladapo teases endorsement of Casey DeSantis as Governor

Image via Colin Hackley.

First Lady Casey DeSantis may keep her family in the Governor’s Mansion if the Surgeon General has his way.

During a press conference in Tampa at Harpoon Harry’s Crab House, Joseph Ladapo suggested that Gov. Ron DeSantis may not be the only member of the current First Couple to lead the state.

Ladapo said “leadership matters” and that the current Governor is “coming toward the end.”

“It’s sort of, kind of in sight. Still a good long runway. But leadership matters for what happens next. Please don’t take any of this stuff for granted,” he said.

“As the Governor said, it just takes you know what hits the fan, and then you get to see what people are made of. And unfortunately, most people aren’t made of stuff that’s going to really save you in those situations. I urge you to really keep that in mind as we think about what happens next after Gov. DeSantis, the first Gov. DeSantis, ends his term. So I just want you to keep that in mind.”

Whether any of that was a disparagement of U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is a matter of interpretation.

Ladapo, who was appointed by DeSantis to replace Scott Rivkees as Surgeon General, campaigned for the Governor when he ran for President.

Ladapo appeared in the U.S. Virgin Islands independently and in New Hampshire with the Governor. Ultimately, DeSantis left the race against Donald Trump before either state voted.

Meanwhile, Casey DeSantis alluded to a familiar theme during her remarks, using language that the Governor used complaining about Dr. Anthony Fauci years ago.

“I remember the likes of Dr. Fauci. By the way, I always thought about this. This is July 2020, right? And this is the midst of the pandemic. Why is this guy sitting on the cover of (a fashion) magazine with sunglasses on, arms crossed next to a pool like it’s the Emmy awards? I mean, and these guys are here fighting for your rights,” she said, referring to the Surgeon General and her Governor.

The First Lady actually got the year wrong regarding the magazine line.

“For me, you look at that magazine cover where he’s lounging by the pool with the sunglasses on, you know, right in the midst of a pandemic. It was almost like a let them eat cake moment for all the people who were chafing under his lockdowns, and yet he seemed to be having the time of his life,” the Governor said on the “Ingraham Angle” in 2021.