Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ petty culture war is reportedly turning off Republicans amid a potential presidential campaign announcement on the horizon.
Key Republican figures have condemned DeSantis for targeting Disney after the company objected to the governor’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill in his state.
He has also faced some right-wing opposition for signing a law that bans abortion after six weeks and for continuing to push through policies that target the LGBTQIA+ community and education, such as the banning of some books from being taught in schools.
“He spends way too much time on the culture wars, and that begins with Disney and includes many other things,” Kellyanne Conway, former White House counselor to former President Donald Trump, told Fox News last month. “Woke is important, but you can’t have that as a replacement for a bold, growth-centric economic plan.”
However, some experts believe that DeSantis’ opposition against “wokeness” is his branding, and his team hopes to use it as a launching pad when he eventually announces his presidential bid.
“It’s hard to question the political impulses of a governor who won re-election by nearly 20 percentage points in a swing state based on this exact strategy,” Thomas Gift, an associate professor who heads the Center on U.S. Politics at University College London, told Newsweek.
This comes as DeSantis has been ramping up travel out of state, attending events to secure donations from Republican constituents.
According to the Washington Post earlier this year, his political committee will serve as the launching pad for the governor’s higher office ambitions. Sources familiar with the situation said that DeSantis plans to announce his candidacy once Florida’s legislative session ends in May.
A new poll from Mason-Dixon Florida also suggests that DeSantis could beat Trump in the Republican presidential primaries. According to the survey, 59 percent of registered voters approve of DeSantis’ performance as governor since his reelection last year, while only 39 percent say otherwise.
Trump currently holds a 39 percent favorable and 50 percent unfavorable rating, while Biden is viewed favorably by just 33 percent of Florida voters and unfavorably by 54 percent, making DeSantis significantly more popular than the ex-president among regular Republican primary voters.
