In July 2016, following the Pulse nightclub shooting drama in Orlando, Florida, which left 49 people dead, these remarks were made at the Republican National Convention.
The rest of the video shows Trump endorsing the freedom of “transgender” people to use the restroom of their choice. He contrasts this stance with DeSantis’ more aggressive approach by posting a number of hostile images of DeSantis (including one with lasers coming from his eyes), as well as right-wing internet memes, headlines and allusions to pop culture.
The video drew various emotional reactions on Twitter.
David Leatherwood said, “I’ve spent the last seven years of my life working with Trump to make the GOP a more gay-friendly place WHILE ALSO AGAINST Groomer, AGAINST AWAKE, AND PRO RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.” even collaborated with DeSantis on this action plan. This ad is a slap in the face and makes anyone who identifies as LGBT and supports DeSantis look like a complete jerk.
“Desperation is not attractive. Justin Pulitzer said: “DeSantis is out.
“Even though I support DeSantis, it’s inappropriate. Ron, you can do better than that,” Fred Hundt said.
As a two-time Trump supporter, Proud Elephant replied, “It’s obvious to me that Ron DeSantis is more conservative and MUCH MORE eligible than Donald Trump.” “I vote for him!”
Not a DeSantis commercial, please. Proud Elephant set it up and D War Room, a DeSantis affiliate band, pushed it. However, this is not an advertisement, noted Rod Thompson. “Second, you have to separate the issue. For the GOP, LG is one thing and a big tent. However, T has become an evil person who preys on children and parents, and he must be stopped. Gay Republicans that I know are all against the trans agenda, as you seem to be, so let’s not lose sight of the end goal.
DeSantis frequently presented himself throughout his career as the victim of unfair liberal criticism in order to energize his political base. He may have made the video in part to incite outrage on the left at a time when he is trailing Trump in the polls.
In this Republican primary campaign, Mr. DeSantis highlighted and expanded his conservative credentials to position himself to the right of his main opponent, although early in his career he appeared relatively indifferent to LGBTQ issues.
Not only did Democrats slam the video, but members of his own party, including Log Cabin Republicans, called it “divisive and hopeless” and said it crossed the line into homophobia.
DeSantis has enacted a number of child protection laws in Florida, including those that prohibit teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity with young students, penalize corporations for allowing minors to attend “adult live shows” like drag shows, and make it illegal to use public restrooms that don’t match a person’s sex at birth.
The Supreme Court’s decision in favor of a Christian web designer’s right to refuse to work on same-sex marriage websites coincided with the day the DeSantis video went viral.
