DeSantis help falls in new poll as campaign resets, Trump stays atop industry

Mabinty Quarshie

August 01, 12:28 PM August 01, 12:28 PM

As Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) attempts to reset his 2024 presidential campaign, a new poll suggests he has his get the job done minimize out for him.

A Early morning Check with poll introduced on Tuesday confirmed the governor slipping to 15% assistance between opportunity Republican primary voters, as former President Donald Trump continues to dominate the main race at 58% support. Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy landed in 3rd place at 9%, with previous Vice President Mike Pence behind him at 7%. All other candidates obtained 3% or considerably less in the survey.

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Notably, Trump is major DeSantis by 43 proportion factors even as he confronted a superseding indictment from special counsel Jack Smith in excess of allegations he mishandled labeled paperwork after leaving office environment and as DeSantis has attempted to reset a campaign that has confronted unfavorable headlines over its campaign strategy.

Ramaswamy, commonly viewed as a long-shot candidate, has found his poll quantities increase 6 proportion points given that mid-June even though DeSantis's poll numbers dropped five proportion points in the same period of time.

When Morning Check with began tracking Republican key voters in December, DeSantis polled at 30% and Trump at 50%. But since then, DeSantis's help has dropped by 15 percentage points whilst Trump's support has enhanced eight percentage points irrespective of the two indictments he is faced this 12 months.

In April, Manhattan District Legal professional Alvin Bragg unveiled a 34-rely indictment from Trump about a hush money payment plan to grownup movie actress Stormy Daniels for the duration of the 2016 presidential election. Then arrived Smith's 37-depend indictment in June over the categorised files, which then enhanced to 40 federal expenses final week in the superseding indictment. The former president has denied any wrongdoing on any of the costs.

But he could facial area two far more indictments above Smith's Jan. 6 Capitol riot investigation and a Georgia investigation into allegations that Trump and his allies tried to overturn the effects of the 2020 presidential election.

DeSantis has faced queries above his retail politics awkwardness, his capability to encourage voters to abandon Trump, and his campaign investing soon after his campaign fired 38 staffers just lately.

However, DeSantis has preserved that he is the only candidate who can credibly gain back the White Dwelling during upcoming year's elections. In a hypothetical matchup, President Joe Biden would win over both Trump and DeSantis, the Morning Check with poll showed. Biden potential customers Trump 44% to 41%, a three percentage point gap. Biden leads DeSantis by 6 proportion factors, 44% to 38%, in a hypothetical matchup, an indication that worries DeSantis's assertion he is the most effective candidate to defeat Biden.

Trump also scores large in favorability with voters at 71%, as does DeSantis, who has a 63% favorability ranking. Pence comes in 3rd location with a 50% favorability, with no other applicant getting higher than 50% just after the former vice president.

The surveys were executed July 28-30 and have a margin of error of additionally or minus four share details.

Character or guidelines: Iowans are break up on what is tripping up DeSantis

Naomi Lim

August 01, 04:10 AM August 01, 04:10 AM

DES MOINES, Iowa — Possible Iowa Republican most important caucusgoers are pointing to Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) procedures, rather than his personality, as another purpose he is not connecting with the citizens.

The feedback coincides with DeSantis's conclusion to concentration additional on plan, which include with an economic deal with in New Hampshire on Monday, amid a slump in early polls when compared to nomination front-runner former President Donald Trump and problems with little greenback fundraising.

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Right before a Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) city corridor in Ankeny, retired Grand Junction impartial Dean Lyons, 58, queried DeSantis's approach to run to the suitable of Trump as his marketing campaign reconsiders its methods, this sort of as remaining additional nationally oriented, granting far more common media interviews, and collaborating in his first bus tour of Iowa just before final week's Iowa Republican Celebration Lincoln Day Meal fundraiser.

"He is in trouble," Lyons informed the Washington Examiner of DeSantis. "I think it truly is his concept. I consider he's nearly also significantly that way. And I am heading to be honest with you: If they elect Trump, [President Joe] Biden will be in again. And I think DeSantis, he was meant to be the gentleman, and he just has not caught fireplace."

Before that working day, Kathy Harvey, 66, who could caucus for DeSantis, also expressed issues about the governor getting way too correct-wing following attending the launch of his two-day five-quit bus tour arranged by his super PAC Hardly ever Back Down in Chariton.

"I am really conservative. I know I am," the Chariton musician reported outside the house the Iron Horse bar and restaurant. "The vast majority of people — to me, it can be unlucky — are heading to the Still left ... and that is why I imagine then he may well not be as well-known with some individuals now."

But in advance of DeSantis's fulfill-and-greet with about 30 men and women, Brad Reece, 61, encouraged the governor to "stick with his conservative values" and "not vary away from that" just after he rose to prominence, in element, due to the fact of his cultural, anti-woke policies.

"He desires to stand up for what he thinks in and persuade the voters that if he is the elected prospect ... he will do what he claims he's going to do," the Chariton farmer said.

"Amongst now and early future calendar year when they have their primaries, in politics, which is an eternity," he additional. "A whole lot of items can transpire."

The next day in advance of yet another DeSantis satisfy and greet, this time in Oskaloosa with about 50 people today, Jenna Belcher, 49, dismissed criticism relating to the governor's retail politics techniques several hours right after he explained to a kid at the Wayne County Fairgrounds in Corydon that her slushy ice drink must have "a great deal of sugar" in it and one more it was "very good to see" them.

"I haven't even discovered that," the Oskaloosa assistant mentioned at the town's Smokey Row Espresso. "The total pandemic is truly what caught my eye."

John Bandsta, 67, and Leanne Hessing, 66, who ended up at the meet up with-and-greet as perfectly, voiced their confidence that DeSantis could, in Bandsta's phrases, "get our region back on observe."

"We have to have any individual new with some new ideas, and I like what DeSantis has carried out in Florida," Hessing, a Pella home university instructor, stated. "He has verified that he can improve matters for the improved. Currently being president would be a a great deal even bigger career to do that, but I know he is likely to surely attempt to make the transform."

Bandsta, an Oskaloosa farmer, also attributed DeSantis's incapacity to crack by way of to Trump, whom he describes as "overshadowing" the primary as the media concurrently houses in on the governor after reporting on the previous president for 8 several years.

"If Trump was not there, I believe that DeSantis would do effectively," he stated. "You will find a large amount of men and women that have not specified up nearly anything on Trump. Trump is their male, no issue what, and they're not inclined to look at other candidates."

Bryan Person, 50, who is probably to caucus for Trump all over again, acknowledged the challenge with which DeSantis ought to contend to persuade supporters of the previous president to back again him instead due to the fact people today have "mostly designed up their minds."

"It really is all dependent off of what he's completed. Absolutely nothing he claims now will matter," the Adel engineering agent claimed of DeSantis. "Both equally with him or Trump, it isn't going to subject. He won't be able to say any more. Well, to me, it does not indicate anything at all."

Trump averages 54% assistance in early national major polls to DeSantis's 18%, in accordance to RealClearPolitics. Though the former president has a 36 proportion stage edge about the governor, the pair's closest rival, biotechnology entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, has 5%.

DeSantis introduced his “Declaration of Economic Independence” coverage in Rochester, New Hampshire, on Monday, a 10-stage program that he is adamant will counter the "decrease of our nation’s struggling economic system" and advocate the middle course by taking on "the elites, D.C. bureaucrats, and Communist China." Two months ago, the governor released his "Mission Initially" army posture.

"You greater inquire an on-subject matter issue due to the fact I am not answering anything at all that’s not about the overall economy," he instructed reporters afterward.

As of final 7 days, DeSantis allow go of about 40% of his unique staff, and whilst marketing campaign supervisor Generra Peck was retained, electronic director Ethan Eilon was promoted to be her deputy. However the governor raised $20.1 million throughout the second quarter of this 12 months, about two-thirds came from donors who are not able to lead any a lot more cash, and $3 million can only be utilised all through a common election. He has currently expended $7.9 million.

Professional-DeSantis PAC suggests governor has 'grit' in New Hampshire and Iowa advertisement invest in

Julia Johnson

July 28, 05:30 PM July 28, 05:38 PM

Distinctive — The super PAC supporting Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) presidential campaign will debut a new tv advertisement in the to start with-in-the-country caucus and main states of Iowa and New Hampshire on Monday as part of a new 7-determine advertisement acquire.

The 30-second spot from In no way Back Down, titled "Grit," highlights DeSantis's army services as nicely as his past work as an electrician's assistant.

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"Uniforms really don't outline a man, but they do tell a story," a narrator tells viewers. "Ron DeSantis wore an electrician's assistant uniform, generating six bucks an hour to pay out for school, gained a Yale Bulldogs baseball jersey, voted staff captain, and led his group to victories."

"Soon after 9/11, volunteered to serve America in overcome fatigues as a Jag with the Navy Seals in Iraq," it proceeds.

The advertisement, the eighth of its form from the political motion committee, will also air nationally on WHD News and Newsmax.

"The Governor’s tale shows how the American desire will take grit," the professional-DeSantis PAC claimed.

The Florida Republican is touring Iowa, campaigning in counties all through the condition. He recently stopped at the Flexibility Rock in Appanoose County, assembly with fellow veterans. He also visited the "Welcome House Soldier" monument in Albia, a public monument arranged by veterans to honor past, existing, and upcoming veterans. In accordance to the PAC, DeSantis also toured the CJ3 Foundation in the point out, a nonprofit team that features products and services to and advocates for veterans in Iowa.

As the only veteran polling in the double digits in the 2024 race, DeSantis finds himself in a placement to capitalize on his armed service expertise.

In a recent interview with the Washington Examiner, he argued he is the most effective equipped to be president and especially to revamp the army mainly because "I realize what it normally takes. I fully grasp the needs of support. I fully grasp the sacrifices that individuals make."

"If you are going to question persons to make all those varieties of sacrifices, you improved make certain they're sacrificing for one thing that is unifying and that seriously, actually matters," he mentioned.

In a distinctive 7-figure advertisement buy before this month, the PAC attacked previous President Donald Trump, the front-runner in the main, above his public feud with well-liked Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA). Immediately after criticizing Reynolds for remaining neutral ahead of the caucuses, Trump experienced the reduction of an endorsement, with state Sen. Jeff Reichman endorsing DeSantis as an alternative.

DeSantis is polling at 16% nationally, according to Morning Talk to. He is second only to Trump, who enjoys the aid of far more than 50 percent of Republican most important voters.

Florida DOE adopts textbooks previously denied over 'information that was not aligned with Florida Law'

Jack Birle

May 09, 04:50 PM May 09, 04:50 PM

The Florida Department of Education announced it had approved more than 60% of submitted social studies instructional materials for use in the state.

The figure is remarkably higher than the 19% of submitted materials that were approved by the state a month ago. The state says it has since worked with publishers to revise materials to meet Florida standards.

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“Thanks to Governor DeSantis’ and the state’s consistent adherence to high quality, rigorous and factual content, Florida continually earns praise as a leader in education, including the recent number one ranking by U.S. News & World Report,” State Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said in a statement.

“To uphold our exceptional standards, we must ensure our students and teachers have the highest quality materials available — materials that focus on historical facts and are free from inaccuracies or ideological rhetoric,” he said.

The state says 101 books were submitted, and only 19 were adopted as of April 6. After more than a month, 47 more books were approved, leading to a total of 66 approved books by Monday.

The state provided examples of rejected materials and what they were replaced by in order to comply with state guidelines.

The first example provided by the state included a paragraph in a K-5 book saying how parents should discuss the national anthem and specifically "why some citizens are choosing to 'Take a Knee' to protest police brutality and racism." The paragraph, which was included in a page about parents discussing symbols of the United States and Florida, was removed in the revision.

Another example was of what the state called an "inaccurate description of socialism" for material intended to be used in grades 6-8. The material described socialism as "keeping things nice and even and without unnecessary waste." It also said that socialist societies "promote greater equality among people." In the revised materials, the positive descriptions of socialism are removed.

Other examples include material intended for grades 6-8. It discussed "what social justice issues are included in the Hebrew Bible." Those lines were replaced with asking what "key principles" are in the Hebrew Bible.

Material intended for grades 9-12 calling governments in China, Cuba, and the former Soviet Union "so-called communist governments" were also amended. In the revision, "so-called" is removed.

The final example listed by the state included a section discussing "New Calls for Social Justice." The section described the founding of the Black Lives Matter group as a movement that "called for an end to systemic racism and white supremacy" and included references to the death of George Floyd in 2020. The state says this entire section was removed in the approved revision.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has made education one of his chief policies in his first term, and that narrative is continuing into his second term.

DeSantis has specifically been tough on curricula, including initially rejecting an Advanced Placement course on African American Studies due to the inclusion of "ideological material."

DeFlorida Blueprint: DeSantis challenges medical establishment in shaping GOP health policy

Breccan F. Thies

May 09, 07:00 AM May 09, 07:24 AM

DeFlorida Blueprint is a five-part series examining the legislative and policy record of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). As the Florida legislature wraps up its 2023 session, DeSantis is widely expected to declare he is running for the Republican presidential nomination, putting him on a collision course with former President Donald Trump. The first part of this series examined his record on education. The second part, below, will look at DeSantis's healthcare policy.

In his four years in office, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has set a new conservative playbook for healthcare, from his defiant response to the coronavirus pandemic to his care network to combat opioid addiction.

Beyond the headlines of his war on woke, DeSantis has racked up a policy record that will serve as the foundation for his national political ambitions and expected 2024 White House bid.

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“DeSantis is leading the way in showing Republicans how to advance conservative policy goals and protect Americans from bad private actors across the issue spectrum but especially as it pertains to healthcare policy," American Principles Project President Terry Schilling told the Washington Examiner. "The status quo Republican policy of neutrality has always been a failure against Democrats' aggressive social agenda — they build institutions and change society with their policies and legal changes, and Republicans never even remove or reverse the Democrats' changes."

Coronavirus

On healthcare, DeSantis is probably most lauded by conservatives for his response to the coronavirus pandemic, wherein he sharply criticized mask and vaccination mandates, lockdowns, and school closures that were being pursued in states across the country.

The governor became an early critic of former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, saying last year that "someone needs to grab that little elf and chuck him across the Potomac."

In a veiled jab at former President Donald Trump last month, DeSantis criticized "leaders" who "subcontract out their leadership to health bureaucrats like Dr. Fauci."

DeSantis was later than most governors in imposing lockdowns on April 1, 2020, and started loosening restrictions after only 28 days. By Sept. 25, 2020, he lifted the sanctions, declaring in his executive order that Florida had "suffered economic harm."

Paragon Health Institute President Brian Blase told the Washington Examiner, "DeSantis's policies to target protective measures for the most vulnerable, avoid mandates, and keep schools and businesses open led Florida to have one of the best overall COVID responses in the country."

The "biomedical security state"

In January 2023, DeSantis launched the "Prescribe Freedom" initiative, which passed the Florida legislature, aimed at permanently ending mask and vaccine requirements and allowing "protecting medical freedom of speech" of physicians.

The bill allows doctors to "disagree with the preferred narrative of the medical community."

“As a health sciences researcher and physician, I have personally witnessed accomplished scientists receive threats due to their unorthodox positions,” Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said in support of the bill. “However, many of these positions have proven to be correct, as we’ve all seen over the past few years."

Dating to the very beginning of the virus, there was an "attempt to suppress real scientific debate and discussion," Robert Moffit, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Center for Health and Welfare Policy, told the Washington Examiner.

"Science requires open debate and open discussion. You can't have anything less than that," he continued. "If you establish a party line, you're shutting down scientific inquiry," and that "exercise of raw political power ... undermines public safety."

Not all physicians agree with the move and believe DeSantis's national presence and potential run for president will "bring more prominence to this ideology," according to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health associate professor Dr. Rupali Limaye.

"This idea of — we are going to reject, essentially, anything that is science-based because that’s part of our identity," Limaye continued. "The government can’t tell us what’s true, what’s not true. We make our own decisions. We make our own truth."

Public Health Integrity Committee

DeSantis is pushing back even further on the coronavirus response, starting the Public Health Integrity Committee, overseen by Ladapo, to assess federal public health recommendations to decide whether Florida will follow them.

The move comes with the state filing a petition for a grand jury to "investigate crimes and wrongdoing committed against Floridians related to the COVID-19 vaccine," as well as an inquiry into "sudden deaths of individuals that received the COVID-19 vaccine."

Treatment for gender dysphoria in children

Under DeSantis, Florida has taken on the American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics, which push the "gender-affirming care" model of responding to children presenting with gender dysphoria.

In 2022, Ladapo issued guidance stating social transitions — like allowing children to use different names, pronouns, and restrooms — and genital mutilation surgeries "should not be a treatment option for children."

The guidance also says children should not be prescribed drugs such as puberty blockers and hormone therapies.

Citing several studies, including medical determinations from Sweden, France, Finland, and the United Kingdom, the guidance says, "Encouraging mastectomy, ovariectomy, uterine extirpation, penile disablement, tracheal shave, the prescription of hormones which are out of line with the genetic make-up of the child, or puberty blockers, are all clinical practices which run an unacceptably high risk of doing harm."

Florida's legislature recently passed several bills related to the treatment of gender dysphoric children, which DeSantis is expected to sign.

One bill bans the use of puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and surgeries on children, allowing courts to remove children from homes that allow such treatment. Doctors who provide treatment will also have their medical licenses suspended and can be subjected to felony charges.

Another bill bans the required use of "preferred pronouns" or alternate names for children in schools, as well as banning the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation until the ninth grade.

Similarly, a bill requires gender-exclusive restrooms and that students must use restrooms that align with their sex.

Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, chairman of the medical advocacy group Do No Harm, told the Washington Examiner that Ladapo's guidance "is a well-thought-out and evidence-based approach to this difficult and controversial critical topic."

Abortion and child care

Like many other Republican-led states, Florida restricted abortion after the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

Currently, Florida bans abortion at 15 weeks gestation, but in April, DeSantis signed a heartbeat bill that would ban the procedure at around six weeks. That bill is waiting for a state Supreme Court decision to take effect.

Florida has also prioritized things like child care, foster care, and maternal health to make it easier for women to bring their babies to term.

According to the Florida Health Department, the Sunshine State has invested over $308 million in maternal and child care over the past four years, telling the Washington Examiner the state is on track to meet its 2030 benchmark of lowering infant mortality to five deaths per 1,000 live births. Other achievements include 94% of babies receiving all immunizations by 24 months.

DeSantis's "Framework for Freedom" budget includes a permanent sales tax exemption for baby and toddler necessities, $96 million in foster care and child care, and $143 million in aid to pregnant and postpartum women.

Addiction and opioids

To combat opioid addiction and overdose, as well as enhance recovery efforts, Florida launched the Coordinated Opioid Recovery network, a partnership of addiction care centers and infrastructure in 12 Florida counties.

The initiative aims to stop the "revolving door of addiction and overdose" by bolstering recovery from emergency response to rehabilitation.

After responding to an overdose, the system would bypass other hospitals and send patients to a specialty center "similar to a trauma center" and pursue treatment through recovery.

The program focuses on treating other medical and mental health problems alongside addiction, as well as involving social services for job training, housing, and food assistance.

According to the Department of Health, since its August 2022 launch, the program has provided 100,000 services to patients, transported 5,000 overdoses to specialized care, stabilized 2,000 overdoses, and placed 98% of opioid use patients on medicated assisted treatment.

"We are giving Floridians the tools they need to break the substance abuse cycle," DeSantis said. "Substance abuse can affect any family at any time, so from education to law enforcement to treatment, we are going to make sure that Floridians can take advantage of this new addiction recovery model."

Prescription drug prices

DeSantis has made several moves to reduce prescription drug prices and regulate the pharmaceutical industry.

Last week, DeSantis signed a bill to regulate pharmacy benefit managers, the organizations that acquire medications from drug companies and distribute them to pharmacies.

The measure requires more transparency from PBMs, which bill authors say have been "allowed to operate virtually unchecked," and increases consumers' pharmacy choices. It also requires pharmaceutical companies to disclose when drug prices increase and why that is the case.

In 2020, Florida became the first state to submit a proposal to the Department of Health and Human Services to begin importing prescription drugs from Canada.

The program would allow Florida to import drugs from Canada, which are less beholden to market changes because the Canadian government controls pricing.

HHS stopped the implementation of the program, citing quality and safety standards of foreign countries. Pharmaceutical companies in the United States have successfully lobbied against foreign importation of drugs.

"They have unlawfully withheld and unreasonably delayed this program, and we think this violates federal law," DeSantis said when filing a lawsuit against HHS.

Medicaid

Florida is one of 10 states that has not adopted a Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act that would have increased eligibility for people earning up to 138% of the poverty line.

As a member of Congress, DeSantis voted for one of the more extensive options to repeal the Affordable Care Act, initially voting against a softer undoing.

The pandemic saw Florida's Medicaid recipients increase from 3.8 million in March 2020 to 5.5 million. Because the "continuous coverage" benefit expired March 31, 2023, Florida is determining whether recipients still qualify — a process that can take a year.

DeSantis has pursued several changes to Medicaid, such as an expansion of the program's postpartum eligibility from 60 days to 1 year post-delivery to reduce maternal mortality rates.

The Agency for Health Care Administration also issued a rule prohibiting Medicaid reimbursements to providers for puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and transgender surgical procedures.

“There is a lot of great work being done to advance public health in Florida," Ladapo told the Washington Examiner. "Our accomplishments demonstrate the dedicated and tireless efforts of the Florida Department of Health’s staff and partners throughout the state.”

DeSantis claims Trump is using 'Democrat attacks' on Social Security and Medicare

Misty Severi

May 08, 08:57 PM May 08, 08:57 PM

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) blasted former President Donald Trump for using "Democrat attacks" concerning government programs such as Medicare and Social Security.

DeSantis, who is considering a presidential bid in 2024, slammed the onetime president for criticizing his former support of a budget proposal that included raising the age of retirement to 70. DeSantis expressed support for the proposal when he was in Congress.

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“Those are Democrat attacks. I don’t think anyone really buys that,” DeSantis told Newsmax on Friday. “Donald Trump himself wrote a book where he was talking about the need to increase the age of eligibility for Social Security to 70.”

DeSantis added that even though Republicans should be able to discuss programs like Social Security without fear of retribution, Trump took it to a different level by using tactics normally deployed by Democrats.

A super PAC that supports DeSantis used similar language to the governor in an attack ad last month.

“Donald Trump is being attacked by a Democrat prosecutor in New York,” the narrator in the ad says. “So why is he spending millions attacking the Republican governor of Florida? Trump’s stealing pages from the Biden-Pelosi playbook.”

Trump's reference to the budget proposal dates back to when DeSantis was a congressman. But debates over government spending have revitalized discussions on how important Social Security is, especially following a federal report that claimed funding for Social Security will be depleted by 2034 if it is not fixed.

When tensions were high following President Joe Biden's State of the Union address, Trump urged both parties not to touch either program.

DeSantis and Trump are considered rivals within the Republican Party, and they are the two front-runners for the GOP nomination for president next year. DeSantis has not declared his candidacy, but a final decision is expected to be announced this summer. Trump announced his bid in November.

If DeSantis gets in, his first task will be stopping the polling slide

Haisten Willis

May 07, 06:00 AM May 07, 06:00 AM

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has yet to enter the 2024 presidential contest, but polling indicates he'll have a tough task ahead should he choose to do so.

DeSantis has seen his support plummet in recent weeks amid an onslaught of criticism from former President Donald Trump, who is trying to declare the contest over and pivot toward the general election.

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"I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them," Trump wrote in a recent Truth Social post. "When you’re leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP & MAGA-hating anchors asking the 'questions,' why subject yourself to being libeled and abused?"

Skipping debates is a common tactic for incumbents, who don't want to be seen on an equal footing with their challengers. President Joe Biden is trying the same thing against his token Democratic primary opponents.

However, DeSantis's backers and veteran political observers say it's far too early to count anyone out of the GOP primary, much less the second-ranked candidate before he even enters the race.

"Ron is doing well before having announced because of his aggressive and ambitious legislative session," Ready for Ron Executive Director Gabriel Llanes said. "He's gotten a lot of things through. It was one of the most productive legislative sessions in Florida history."

Along with conservative policies like a six-week abortion ban and constitutional carry, the Florida legislature helped the governor by altering a bill that would've required him to resign from the office in order to seek the presidency.

With that obstacle removed, and the legislative session now over, the stage is set for DeSantis to enter.

Llanes would like to see DeSantis join the race by mid-June, stressing that it's incredibly early and, thus, there is no need to rush.

But John Thomas, founder of the Ron to the Rescue PAC, thinks DeSantis should announce "yesterday."

"The moment is slipping away," he said. "I don't think it's gone, but any further delay would be a mistake."

At the end of February, DeSantis trailed Trump by 12.8% in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls. That gap has more than doubled to 29.2 points amid Trump's New York indictment and other candidates piling into the contest.

Thomas says DeSantis needs to declare and then shift toward a broad economic and public safety message to expand out from the culture war issues he's known for.

"DeSantis's core argument over Trump is that he's more marketable in a general election," Thomas said. "Culture wars are a great primary message, but it's not a credible argument to say you'll ride all the way to the White House on culture wars."

Even Biden himself poked fun at DeSantis as a culture war maven during last weekend's White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

"After his reelection as governor, [DeSantis] was asked if he had a mandate," Biden quipped during the black tie event. "He said, 'Hell no. I’m straight.'"

The GOP electorate will decide which flavor they like better. The biggest policy divide between Trump and DeSantis may be on the issue of abortion, which Trump has shied away from discussing while DeSantis signed a six-week ban into law.

Despite his sizable lead and the initial bump his indictment afforded, Trump could still find himself hampered both personally and professionally by legal troubles. In addition to the New York case, he's facing a case related to the 2020 election in Fulton County, Georgia, a special counsel investigating his mishandling of classified documents, and a separate special counsel related to the 2020 election.

The electorate could grow weary of all the legal headaches, but those cases could also make it more difficult for him to campaign. Sasha Tirador, a Florida-based Democratic strategist, predicts that GOP voters will be wary of the courtroom sideshow and eventually nominate DeSantis instead.

For now, it's just too early to tell. Political observers point to candidates like the late John McCain, who overcame early front-runner Rudy Giuliani to secure the GOP nomination in 2008, or even Biden, who struggled in early 2020 before surging ahead following the South Carolina primary.

"We've seen people come from behind with weaker poll numbers than DeSantis and end up winning," said Florida Atlantic University political professor Kevin Wagner. "Sometimes we play into the moment instead of looking at the longer pathway. It's a long journey to the nomination."

DeSantis drops a hint about announcing a 2024 GOP presidential run

Mabinty Quarshie

May 04, 01:12 PM May 04, 01:12 PM

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) inched closer to announcing a 2024 presidential campaign during a press conference on Thursday.

"These things will happen in relatively due course," DeSantis said in response to a question about his presidential ambitions. "The season is what it is. There is only so much time."

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The Florida governor said his primary focus when reelected as chief executive was to deliver conservative promises to his constituents. "I'm going to use this opportunity to do what I promised," he said. "I've been really intent on doing that." DeSantis also touted his victories over the past months: "Of the things that we said we were going to do, I don't think there's anything that we haven't done."

A few of the measures DeSantis has signed into law this year include legislation that tightens bail reform efforts, a bill that restricts abortions after six weeks, and legislation that allows the death penalty on child rapists.

Despite not being a candidate, DeSantis consistently trails former President Donald Trump in national polling — ahead of all other 2024 hopefuls.

The former president has attacked DeSantis on his social media platform, Truth Social, and has boasted about his poll leads over DeSantis. Never Back Down, a super PAC backing DeSantis, has taken to blasting ads criticizing Trump in South Carolina, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Nevada, all crucial early primary states.

As the proxy war continues between the two men, tech billionaire Peter Thiel said on Thursday that if DeSantis can defeat Trump for the nomination, he would "strongly support him."

Meanwhile, DeSantis is expected to announce a campaign in the wake of Florida's legislative session wrapping up on Friday. DeSantis has traveled to some of the early primary states ahead of his expected campaign launch. He will also travel to the conservative Morning in Nevada PAC's eighth annual basque fry on June 17.

Gov. Ron DeSantis paints Florida as the 'anti-New York' and 'anti-California'

Julia Johnson

May 03, 03:42 PM May 03, 03:42 PM

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) declared Florida the "anti-New York" and "anti-California" during a press conference on Wednesday.

According to the Florida governor, his state's bail laws and support of free speech for physicians places it in stark contrast with New York and California, which are led by Democratic politicians.

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"Our Florida bail, tough-on-bail [laws], is anti-New York. Supporting free speech physicians, kind of anti-California," he explained at the press conference in Jupiter, Florida.

He also alluded to the national media attention on himself, particularly coming out of those states.

“I get out of bed — I roll out of bed in the morning — the media's having a spasm. The Left has a spasm,” he said.

“Honestly, it just shows you that you’re over the target," DeSantis added.

According to him, "If you have New York media outlets worried about me in Florida, they’re not doing that for their health.

"They understand that what we’re doing in Florida, you know, we represent a threat to leftism in this country because we’re defeating leftism in the state of Florida,” he told reporters.

California's governor, Gavin Newsom (D-CA), has been a harsh critic of DeSantis and his policies. The Democratic politician recently took a trip to the state where he visited New College — the subject of DeSantis's campaign to root out Left-wing bias at public universities.

On Tuesday, Newsom said he is making trips to red states because "We're at a moment, and I can't just sit back passively."

He further accused Florida and other Republican-led states of conducting "a rights regression."

According to the California governor, "I feel accountable, and I feel the need to call it out. I feel the need to go on the offense and not consistently be on the defense, and I feel the need to wake everybody up to what the hell is going on in the United States of America."

DeSantis is expected to launch a bid for the White House in 2024 this summer, something the campaign of former President Donald Trump has gotten out ahead of, releasing ads targeting the Florida governor.

Despite his unannounced status, DeSantis is the second-highest polling potential candidate in a hypothetical 2024 Republican primary, with 22%. Trump still leads the field with a whopping 56%, however, per Morning Consult.

Ron DeSantis touts Florida record in South Carolina speech with wife

Brady Knox

April 19, 09:21 PM April 19, 09:22 PM

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) touted his record as Florida's governor and touched on more personal topics alongside his wife at an event in South Carolina on Wednesday evening.

DeSantis gave a pitch for why he's a good leader as part of his "Florida blueprint" speaking tour in Spartanburg, South Carolina. In his initial speech, before sitting down with his wife for a more casual conversation, the Florida governor presented his state as a bastion of sanity and conservative values. He depicted it as one of the few where Republicans can get things done.

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"You know, Florida, we're proud of what we've been able to accomplish," he began. "Florida shows that leadership really matters. Results matter. And I think if you look at our results, they are second to none."

He cited statistics on net emigration, economic freedom, education freedom, parental involvement in education, and public higher education as supporting his point. He then touted his record as governor during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying he chose "freedom over Faucism."

"When the world went crazy during COVID, when common sense suddenly became an uncommon virtue, we in Florida stood as a refuge of sanity, as a citadel of freedom for people in our state throughout these United States, and even for people throughout the world," he continued. "We refused to let our state descend into some type of Faucian dystopia."

In perhaps a subtle attack against former President Donald Trump, DeSantis touted his supportive staff and lack of leaks during his administration.

"If you're bringing any other agenda to this administration, other than what is in the best interests of Floridians and what we campaigned on during the campaign, if you're putting your own agenda in that mix, then pack your bags right now; there is the door, we don't have time for this," he said.

"We've got a job that we've got to get done. And we've been able to execute day after day, with very little behind-the-scenes fanfare or leaking or palace intrigue because ultimately all that does is distract from your ability to get to true north," he added.

DeSantis also touted his struggle against Disney and "wokeism," appropriating a famous Winston Churchill quote to express his dedication to fighting "woke" ideology.

"The woke represents a war on truth; we have no other recourse but to wage a war on woke," he said. "We fight the woke in the schools, we fight the woke in the legislature, we fight the woke in the corporations; we will never ever surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die."

After his speech, the Florida governor was joined by his wife in a sit-down conversation. The two relayed vignettes of their relationship, raising a family in the governor's mansion, and the importance of fighting wokeism for a better future for their three children.

DeSantis's Florida blueprint speaking tour, which has seen him travel to several politically important states, is widely seen as a warmup for his expected announcement of a run for president in 2024.

DeSantis returns to Capitol Hill amid brewing 2024 troubles with Trump

Mabinty Quarshie

April 18, 02:09 PM April 18, 02:09 PM

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is attending a "meet-and-greet policy discussion" at the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday evening as tensions between DeSantis and former President Donald Trump continue to rise.

The event, hosted by the nonprofit group And to the Republic, will feature expected guest appearances from Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Darin LaHood (R-IL), Thomas Massie (R-KY), and Chip Roy (R-TX) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT).

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But also hovering over DeSantis's visit to Washington, D.C., are the escalating attacks between the Trump camp and DeSantis's allies.

In recent days and weeks, super PACs affiliated with both men have launched attack ads against each other despite DeSantis not being a declared 2024 presidential candidate.

MAGA Inc., a Trump-backed PAC, released a 30-second ad last week mocking DeSantis for allegedly eating chocolate pudding with his fingers. The pudding allegations were reported by the Daily Beast last month. MAGA Inc. also purchased a $3 million ad buy highlighting DeSantis's votes to cut Social Security and Medicare.

Not to be outdone, Never Back Down, a pro-DeSantis PAC, came to the governor's rescue. The group released an ad on Friday, the same day Trump spoke to the National Rifle Association, attacking the former president's Second Amendment credentials. The group also released an ad on Sunday attacking Trump for lying about DeSantis's record on Social Security.

Even more worryingly for DeSantis, Florida Republicans are defecting and endorsing Trump. Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) announced his support for Trump on Monday. Steube joined other Sunshine State Republicans, such as Reps. Byron Donalds, Matt Gaetz, Anna Paulina Luna, and Cory Mills, in backing Trump over DeSantis. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) have also endorsed Trump in recent days. (DeSantis said he will make a decision on a 2024 run after Florida's legislative session wraps up in May.)

GOP strategist Ford O'Connell said the Florida lawmakers' defection to Trump is a blow to the governor. "Losing those endorsements is not helpful because they are respected members of the Florida delegation," O'Connell told the Washington Examiner. "But again, it is recoverable, and times can change."

In most polls, DeSantis is the only Republican polling close to Trump, who is still in command of the GOP base. However, a Public Opinion Strategies poll obtained by McClatchy showed DeSantis narrowly beating President Joe Biden in Arizona and Pennsylvania, two important battleground states. DeSantis leads Biden 45% to 42% in Pennsylvania. He also leads Biden in Arizona 48% to 42%.

Meanwhile, Biden leads Trump in Pennsylvania, 46% to 42%. In Arizona, Biden beats Trump 45% to 44%.

Yet Trump is still king in the GOP, and his recent legal woes have bolstered his status with Republican voters. Trump was arrested and arraigned in a Manhattan court earlier this month stemming from a 2016 hush money payment scheme.

"Not only does he have the mantle, but he's also setting the sort of control for the conversation," O'Connell said. "He has all the momentum. It's very, very hard to take the mantle back from Donald Trump because he's sucking all the oxygen out of the Republican primary room."

DeSantis has made stoking the culture wars a critical part of his persona.

The governor passed a six-week abortion ban in Florida last week but has been reluctant to champion his legislative achievement in public. Similarly, Trump has been reluctant to champion the overturning of Roe v. Wade, even though he was responsible for nominating the three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn the landmark ruling last year. Trump has not publicly commented on DeSantis's abortion ruling.

A feud with Disney also led to some Republicans criticizing DeSantis. This week, DeSantis championed legislation that would revoke an agreement Disney made with the former Reedy Creek Improvement District Board of Supervisors to bypass Florida's control over the Walt Disney World Resort. The corporation and DeSantis have feuded since last year, when Disney criticized the Parental Rights in Education Act.

"Why do you want to punish a place that creates enormous tax revenue for your state? Enormous tourism for your state? And you want to punish them because they've disagreed with you?" former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) said during an event with Semafor on Tuesday.

Christie, a possible 2024 candidate, also said he didn't think DeSantis was a "conservative" based on his actions toward Disney.

Likewise, GOP strategist Frank Luntz criticized DeSantis's feud with Disney.

"I don't know why Gov. DeSantis has decided to make Disney an enemy," Luntz said during C-SPAN's Washington Journal show on Tuesday. "He's trying to use Disney to elevate himself. He's got a brilliant record. Florida's economy is strong. Crime is down. Quality of life is up. It's a success story. So why are you demonizing a company?"

O'Connell, however, said the Disney flap can only help DeSantis.

"Here's why it helps him with the Republican base: because Disney is the symbol of corporate activism," O'Connell said. "And Republicans do not like corporate activism because they want to go back to the old Michael Jordan 'Republicans buy tennis shoes, too.'"

DeSantis will need to define his media narrative before Trump brandishes him. Events such as the meet-and-greet at the Heritage Foundation can help bolster DeSantis ahead of an expected 2024 run.

"I think that this is a case of DeSantis introducing himself to Heritage ... [and] the broader Heritage committee," O'Connell said. "But it's also an attempt to generate support and lay out his vision."

DeSantis supporters leap to his defense against Trump ahead of primary fight

Naomi Lim

April 18, 05:30 AM April 18, 05:30 AM

Voters are getting a glimpse of what is shaping up to be an ugly 2024 Republican presidential primary between the top contenders, declared candidate former President Donald Trump and undeclared Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).

But while DeSantis's supporters are now more vociferously jumping to his defense, with the governor not expected to announce a campaign until Florida's 2023 legislative session concludes next month, he risks being defined by Trump while the governor and his allies criticize the former president for his temperament and policy positions amid his mounting legal challenges.

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Last week, Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. launched its second TV ad attacking DeSantis, claiming he sought cuts to Social Security and Medicare, in addition to trying to raise the retirement age to 70. The 30-second spot, which came after a $3 million buy last month, also mocks DeSantis for allegedly eating chocolate pudding with three fingers in a 2019 anecdote reported by the Daily Beast.

Two days later, Never Back Down, the DeSantis-aligned super PAC, hit back during WHD News Sunday with its first TV ad, asking, “What happened to Donald Trump?" and urging the former president to "fight Democrats," not "lie" about the governor regarding entitlement reform. The previous day, the group had described Trump as a "gun grabber" during a 90-second digit spot geo-targeted to the National Rifle Association's annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana.

"About time," Republican strategist John Feehery told the Washington Examiner. "Trump is starting to land some blows in defining DeSantis. About time that DeSantis starts fighting back."

But Claremont McKenna College politics professor John Pitney, a former Republican staffer, was uncertain about the Never Back Down ad's audience as Trump continues to dominate early polls. Months before the first GOP debate this summer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Trump averages 52% of the primary electorate to DeSantis' 24%, according to RealClearPolitics. Simultaneously, Trump raised roughly $14 million during the first quarter of 2023, particularly around the time of his indictment in March.

"Here is the message: 'Trump is stealing pages from the Biden-Pelosi playbook,'" Pitney said of President Joe Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Do the DeSantis people really think that they can convince Republicans that Trump is too much like Biden and Pelosi? That seems pretty unlikely."

"Here's the problem for DeSantis," he added. "From the standpoint of hard evidence, the strongest arguments against Trump are that he's corrupt, that he stole government documents, and that he illegally tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. But Republicans don't like those arguments."

Former Texas Republican Party Chairman Tom Pauken, who no longer backs Trump, contended DeSantis's other problem is that Democrats "want" the former president to be the 2024 nominee. For Pauken, DeSantis is better positioned to win a general election than Trump, standing by the governor's decision to downplay Florida's new six-week abortion ban.

"Well, it got done," Pauken said. "He [came] down on the side of life. ... I understand that there's a great division over abortion. But he signed the law, and he's focusing on the issues that he's really been in the fight over, which is the wokeism and taking on Disney."

The ads underscore concerns related to Biden, the White House, and Democrats scrutinizing Republicans over Social Security and Medicare, as well as the tone for the GOP primary between Trump and DeSantis.

The Trump spots cite votes DeSantis took in 2013, 2014, and 2015 when he was a congressman to change Social Security and the retirement age, as well as votes in 2013 and 2015 to tinker with Medicare. In response, Never Back Down points to DeSantis saying last month that he is "not going to mess with Social Security" and comments Trump made in 2020 that he would "look" at entitlement programs "at some point."

Trump has more recently repeated that Republicans should not "cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security." But his presidential budgets proposed decreases to the programs, and in 2012, Trump said then-GOP presidential standard-bearer Mitt Romney and vice presidential pick Paul Ryan's ideas would "save Medicare."

"We can also raise the age for receipt of full Social Security benefits to seventy," Trump wrote in his 2000 book, The America We Deserve. "We have to allow individuals to invest some portion of their Social Security funds in investments that are real and conservative. ... Privatization would be good for all of us."

MAGA Inc. spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in New Hampshire last year, even backed privatizing Social Security and upping the retirement age on the trail.

A Republican operative supporting Trump's campaign quipped this was not "a smart road for the DeSantis camp to go down."

"His PAC's spokesman Matt Wolking used to praise Trump for building the wall and now claims he didn't," the source said. "The fact that they're responding to this shows how vulnerable they know they are on this issue."

WATCH: The View host accuses GOP of 'playing God' with abortion bans

Julia Johnson

April 17, 01:43 PM April 17, 01:43 PM

The View sounded off on stances Republican politicians took on abortion in the past week, slamming Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in particular.

Sara Haines claimed that Republican states banning abortions after a certain number of weeks are "playing God."

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She further alleged that "11 of the 13 states that are making these rulings aren’t considering the mom." However, of the 13 states that have near-total abortion bans, each provides exceptions to save the life of the mother in emergencies.

Haines said that these states are "choosing between lives," adding that "it came from a place of religious saving a life ... and now you’re saving certain lives and not other lives."

"And it’s a party that won’t do any social programs, so, like, you care about life, but then they come in and we're not going to spend on a life," she added.

She also criticized Scott, who recently said he would sign the most conservative legislation that was passed on abortion, regardless of weeks.

"He just kept saying the 'most conservative,' which is not an idea or a philosophy on it. He just wanted to be like, 'I'll go the most conservative,' not telling you why, not delving into weeks — and just for his knowledge — that's how you track a pregnancy is by weeks, so maybe he should learn the weeks he wants to use when he's talking about this," she said.

The hosts also discussed DeSantis's recent signing of a six-week abortion ban in Florida.

Ana Navarro slammed the law's passage as both "indefensible" and "stupid." According to her, it's just an example of the "extremism that Ron DeSantis is capable of."

Scott recently announced his launch of an exploratory committee for a presidential run in 2024. While DeSantis hasn't made any such announcement, he recently traveled to the key primary state of New Hampshire and is expected to launch a campaign in the summer.

Protesters storm stage during DeSantis speech in New Hampshire

Ryan King

April 14, 06:55 PM April 14, 07:11 PM

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — A handful of protesters rushed the stage during Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) address to the New Hampshire GOP's largest annual fundraising gala.

They came remarkably close to the governor before being quickly ushered off the stage.

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"Gotta have a little spice in the speech," DeSantis quipped, though he appeared slightly startled.

DeSantis gave his speech at the 2023 Amos Tuck Dinner Friday before the New Hampshire State Republican Party. A small hodgepodge of demonstrators briefly flashed MAGA and progressive signs outside the complex before his address.

The disruption came within about five minutes of him beginning his remarks.

Over 500 people sat for his speech, including local leaders and political figures such as Republican state House Majority Leader Jason Osborne and former Massachusetts GOP Sen. Scott Brown.

State Republican Chairman Chris Ager said the party amassed a roughly $380,000 haul as of Friday, dubbing it the "largest ever" for the state party.

DeSantis set to pay first public visit to South Carolina amid 2024 buzz

Ryan King

April 10, 08:32 AM April 10, 08:32 AM

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is set to embark on his first public event in South Carolina of the year as 2024 speculations mounts.

State Sen. Josh Kimbrell, a Republican, invited DeSantis to a speaking event on April 19 in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and has collaborated with a political action committee seeking to recruit him into the presidential contest. DeSantis attended a gubernatorial fundraiser near Charleston, South Carolina, last year.

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“I’ve told everybody associated with his team, ’You’ve got to get here early and often,'” Kimbrell told the . “I’ve tried to make it clear to them that if you want to win, you’ve got to get here early.”

Over recent months, an entourage of 2024 hopefuls and speculated aspirates have made various stops in South Carolina, which is the third state on the GOP primary calendar following the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary election.

DeSantis has maintained a brisk travel itinerary as he tests the waters for a possible presidential run. So far, he has visited or plans to visit Iowa, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire, Utah, Texas, and Israel, among other states.

The Florida governor has been crisscrossing the country to promote his memoir, The Courage to Be Free: Florida's Blueprint for America's Revival, and touting the Sunshine State as a model for other states. The Trump campaign has accused him of mounting a stealth run for president.

South Carolina is home to declared Republican hopeful former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) and possible 2024 contender Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). This week, Scott is set to travel to Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, where he will deliver a "political update" to donors.

DeSantis has widely been pegged as the top competitor against former President Donald Trump in a hypothetical GOP primary. He is expected to make his presidential intentions known at some point after the Florida state legislature wraps up its session in May.

"I believe that Ron DeSantis is as popular among my base as Trump is," Kimbrell added. "But you can’t just mail it in. He's going to have to press the flesh, roll his sleeves up, and get really serious."

DeSantis administration targets social and emotional learning in latest war on woke

Jeremiah Poff

April 02, 06:00 AM April 02, 06:00 AM

School districts in the state of Florida are phasing out social and emotional learning courses after the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) warned schools such curriculum violates state law.

Social and emotional learning, or SEL, has been incorporated in numerous schools in districts across the country with the stated goal of teaching students to be more empathetic and understanding of their peers. But critics warn the courses are used as a primer or "Trojan horse" for critical race theory.

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In February, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz published a memo to the superintendents of Florida school districts warning them that SEL curricula from the companies Edgenuity and Imagine Learning were not permitted because they violated state law barring divisive concepts from being taught in public schools.

“Edgenuity/Imagine Learning’s divisive and discriminatory content branded as ‘social-emotional learning (SEL)’ has no place in Florida’s classrooms," Diaz wrote. "Schools should immediately cease using any materials that conflict with Florida law."

Diaz thanked the school board for Miami-Dade County, which was recently flipped to a majority conservative board, for informing the Florida Department of Education of content within the SEL lessons that "appears contrary to Florida law," prompting the memo.

Other school districts in the state have since erased SEL from their programs and websites. USA Today reported that the School District of Palm Beach County had scrubbed the phrase "social emotional learning" from its website and had informed the state that the classes were now called "skills for learning and life."

The effort to crack down on the controversial curriculum earned praise from conservative parent activists and criticism from teachers unions.

"Social emotional learning sounds good and can be good," Parents Defending Education's director of outreach, Erika Sanzi, told the Washington Examiner. "But it underwent a fundamental change in definition in 2020 ... that added ideology, equity and a focus on the collective — this means that a lesson on empathy can include telling young girls that their discomfort with biological boys in their changing rooms and on their sports teams lacks empathy."

She continued, "It's not up for debate that many schools are including lessons and texts on gender identity under the SEL umbrella. As with all educational fads, SEL is big business, and with that come bad actors and, yes, politically motivated ideologues. If the SEL in Florida schools is not what its critics claim, its proponents would be wise to demonstrate that with evidence rather than unfounded smears against those who express legitimate concerns."

Andrew Spar, the president of the Florida Education Association, said the push to eliminate SEL lessons was another way to drive a wedge between parents and educators and would also scare school districts from adopting such curricula.

“If districts are getting surveyed on this stuff, it’s going to cause them to panic and worry that they may be called out and targeted and face consequences," Spar said.

The crackdown on SEL is the latest effort by DeSantis to weed out so-called woke education concepts. The state has banned critical race theory from public schools and has limited classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation.

Donald Trump indicted: Poll shows DeSantis losing significant 2024 support since charges

Emily Jacobs

April 01, 09:16 PM April 01, 09:49 PM

Former President Donald Trump's lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis among 2024 Republican presidential primary voters has tripled since news of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's indictment, a new poll found.

The Yahoo-YouGov poll, conducted from Thursday to Friday and released Saturday, showed Trump ahead of DeSantis 57% to 31%, respectively. The 26 point difference is three times the eight percent lead Trump held in the same poll when it was conducted two weeks ago. In that survey, the former president was beating the Florida governor 47% to 39%. DeSantis was ahead of Trump 45% to 41% when the poll was conducted in February.

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When the two GOP frontrunners are pitted against a wider, 10 candidate field of declared and potential challengers, Trump maintains steady support while DeSantis's numbers plunge. The former president holds 52% support in the larger primary field, up from 44% in the last poll. DeSantis, meanwhile, dropped from 28% to 21%.

No other declared or potential candidate included in the survey, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, polled in the double digits. Haley had 5% support and Pence had 3%, a far cry from Trump's 54% and DeSantis's 21%.

Of the Republicans and GOP-leaning independents polled, 54% chose Trump as their preferred nominee in 2024, while only a third said they would prefer a different candidate. That is a three point jump from the 51% who said they preferred the former president in the last survey. Results were more split when respondents who weren't aligned with Republicans were included, however.

The surge in support appears to indicate what many political observers had predicted after Trump revealed the looming indictment earlier this month: that the former president being charged would boost his 2024 candidacy, especially with Republicans.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who has a complicated relationship with the former president, called the indictment an "enormous political gift" for Trump.

Speaking during an episode of his Verdict with Ted Cruz podcast on Friday, the Texas senator lamented Bragg's indictment as "devastating to the rule of law [and] to the confidence the American people will have in our justice system" before remarking that if he were a Democrat, he "might well report Alvin Bragg to the Federal Election Commission for making the single greatest in kind contribution to a presidential campaign in history."

"Look, Trump put out almost two weeks ago that he was about to get arrested, and he said he was gonna get arrested the next day," he said. "And Bragg delayed and delayed and delayed. A lot of national Democrats were freaking out and were pressuring Bragg, ‘Don't do this, don't do this, don't do this. This will help Trump.’"

Bragg, a Democrat who has refused to prosecute a number of offenses since taking office last January, indicted the former president Thursday on charges related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. The indictment marks the first time a former U.S. president has been criminally charged.

Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, testified before Congress in 2019 that he paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 during the 2016 campaign to prevent her from going public about an affair she claimed to have with Trump in 2005. Cohen, who pleaded guilty and served time over the alleged payment, told lawmakers Trump reimbursed him in monthly installments.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to fight the charges.