There’s a chance — maybe a small one — that the Jan. 6 hearings will end with Donald Trump either barred from a third presidential campaign or sued into oblivion (or, heck, maybe jailed). But there’s another far right boogeyman to take his place: Ron DeSantis, the bullying Florida governor, who’s gone to war with the LGBTQIA+ community and even his state’s biggest employer. It’s gotten so bad that another governor from another state bought air time to trash him.
As per CNN, California leader Gavin Newsom spent over $100,000 to run ads over the July 4 weekend in the Sunshine State in which he lays out how bad things have gotten there.
“Freedom is under attack in your state,” Newsom says in the ad. He then lays out ways DeSantis and team have come for the citizenry: banning books, making voting difficult, curtailing abortions, and, of course, his so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which restricts the mention of LGBTQIA+ issues in schools.
“I urge all of you living in Florida to join the fight,” Newsom says, adding, “or join us in California, where we still believe in freedom: Freedom of speech, freedom to choose, freedom from hate, and the freedom to love.”
The two governors have frequently clashed before, and the rivalry has no signs of dissipating. When reached for comment about Newsom’s ad, a DeSantis spokesperson simply mocked it. “Gavin Newsom might as well light a pile of cash on fire,” said Dave Abrams. “Pass the popcorn for his desperate attempt to win back the California refugees who fled the hellhole he created in his state to come to Florida.”
You can watch the ad in the video above.
(Via CNN)