Ron DeSantis unloads on ‘nominal Republicans’ in Legislature carrying ‘leftist’ agenda
Image via AP.

Ron DeSantis
'They think you're dumb enough to let them be liberal.'

Gov. Ron DeSantis says fake Republicans in the Legislature are holding back his efforts to enact a conservative agenda in the state.

DeSantis said one consequence of the Florida Democratic Party being “on the mat” is that “nominal Republicans” are infiltrating the GOP and diluting the legislative supermajority.

“Most people in most parts of this state have no chance to get elected with a ‘D’ by their name. They know that. Some of them are even switching to become Republicans now,” DeSantis said.

“That has led us to have more Republicans in the Florida House, let’s say, nominal Republicans who are claiming to be part of the party. The problem is, these are folks that they think if they say that they’re for Trump or put a red hat on or do all this, that you’re dumb enough to let them be liberal and basically stab you in the back. But just because they have that ‘R’ by their name, you’re not going to care. That doesn’t work, okay?”

DeSantis’ comments to a meeting of the Republican Party of Florida State Executive Committee were made Monday, and are the latest indication of his frustration with the Florida House, which saw two Democrats elected in November switch to the party before the 2025 Legislative Session began.

The House, he said, “is giving a lifeline to the Democratic Party … to the Left.”

As he has before, he vented about the disagreement with the House over the immigration bill passed in Special Session, saying that although “liberal Republicans” in the Senate were impediments, the real problem was in Speaker Daniel Perez’s court.

“The House leadership did not want to do that bill,” DeSantis said, likening the position to having “stabbed (activists) in the back” because they wanted to give Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson immigration enforcement authority.

DeSantis also took issue with a committee hearing for a “carbon sequestration” bill, wondering why the House is giving that play instead of an “open carry” bill despite having a supermajority.

One piece of legislation he does support: targeting “geoengineering and weather modification,” but he accused the House of “gutting” the bill, apparently referring to an amendment capping fines at $10,000 adopted Tuesday.

“It should be banned. You know, you have people that think they can fight climate change by doing stuff,” he said. “It’s insane.”

DeSantis also blasted efforts to push a constitutional amendment to “abolish the Lieutenant Governor Office.”

“They’ve changed it to where voters don’t even know where the line of succession is,” he said, blasting the “Office of Governmental Efficiency” proposal for exempting the House from scrutiny.

“That is a total, total fraud,” he added about the bill on the House Second Reading Calendar.

DeSantis sees “very little energy” in the House to “defeat the Left.”

“I think it’s offensive to run under the banner of the Florida first model, the Florida success model, the conservative policies that have made the state great, and then use that to attain power and then abuse that power by pursuing a more leftist agenda. That’s fundamentally wrong because they did not tell you that’s what they were going to do,” DeSantis said.

As he wrapped his 20-plus-minute speech, he predicted that soft Republicans would help Democrats make up ground despite the party’s deep issues.

“You are going to have folks —because everyone needs to be a Republican now — they’re not going to follow through on the conservative principles. They’re going to blur the distinction,” he said.

“Instead of the sharp contrast that we’ve drawn between our agenda and the Left and the Democrats, they’re going to blur that distinction. That’s going to cause our voters to lose enthusiasm and then elections, it gives the Democrats a chance to get back. They’re not going to win everything back right away. But over time that’s what happens and the great heights that we’ve reached will become eroded. So that’s the stakes that I see.”

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has been the Northeast Florida correspondent for Florida Politics since 2014. His work also can be seen in the Washington Post, the New York Post, the Washington Times, and National Review, among other publications. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


9 comments

  • FL1st

    April 2, 2025 at 10:27 am

    Excellent analysis Governor. The grassroots and the people of FL see through what is going on in Tallahassee and will vote accordingly.

    Reply

  • Bill

    April 2, 2025 at 11:13 am

    “If they say they’re for trump or put a red hat on or something, people will be dumb enough to vote for them.”
    There is so much to unpack from that statement but I can’t stop laughing for long enough to try.
    It’s right there with the “let’s have a Florida doge to root out all the government waste” when R’s have held the state for years and it’s their waste.
    I think rhonda is losing the plot, bigly.

    Reply

    • Wabbit, Silly

      April 2, 2025 at 11:36 am

      He kwazy!

      Reply

  • PeterH

    April 2, 2025 at 11:21 am

    DeSantis observed last night’s voting and suddenly realizes independent voters abandoned Republican candidates!

    Reply

  • George

    April 2, 2025 at 12:26 pm

    DeSantis is referring to those Republicans who still have a soul.

    Reply

  • ScienceBLVR

    April 2, 2025 at 1:00 pm

    Love the adjectives, adverbs, and hyperbole- only giving it a D+ if one of my students turned it in. This from the left wing liberal college grad?
    nominal Republicans are infiltrating.. diluting..
    dumb enough to let them be liberal and basically stab you in the back.. impediments… You know, you have people that think they can fight climate change by doing stuff… “It’s..a total, total fraud… will become eroded
    It’s insane!!!!!

    Reply

  • MH/Duuuval

    April 2, 2025 at 1:23 pm

    Dee is an example of what happens when an autocrat of the breakfast table gets the reins of power.

    No extra summer food for you, peasants!

    Reply

  • It's Complicated

    April 2, 2025 at 2:14 pm

    The reason the House is not working the Open Carry bill is that Senate President Bill Albritton said the bill will not be heard in the Senate. With limited bandwidth, why should the House spend time on a bill that has no future in the Senate? It is common sense.

    Reply

  • Victoria Olson

    April 2, 2025 at 10:19 pm

    LOL DeSatan is having tantrums because his legislation is refusing to do what he wants….. the fascist Nazi that he is.

    Reply

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