“Who is Ron DeSantis? A closer look at the scandal-free Florida Governor”

In contrast to Donald Trump (76), the Catholic father of three has so far been involved in few if any personal scandals in his career, and politically the two appeal to many of the same voters.

Ron DeSantis (44) is a staunch opponent of abortion, a supporter of liberal gun laws and is praised by the right wing of the Republican Party for tightening Florida’s laws in areas such as immigration and education.

Abortion and education

The Florida governor, who has Italian ancestry, has barred universities from spending public funds on programs that promote diversity, equality and inclusion, and he has had a number of books removed from Florida school libraries.

DeSantis has also signed a law banning abortion after the sixth week, and he has banned teachers from talking to students about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom.

When Disney, which is Florida’s largest employer, publicly criticized the so-called Don’t Say Gay law , DeSantis responded by revoking Disneyworld’s special status and stripping the company of a number of rights. Coming from a market liberal Republican, it was a rather unusual decision.

Disney sued the governor, and he has since responded with a countersuit.

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Value-conservative culture warrior

The dispute with Disney consolidated DeSantis’ position as a value-conservative cultural warrior and has helped make him popular among many on the right in his own party.

The fact that he refused to shut down Florida during the corona pandemic and distinguished himself as a strong opponent of the Biden administration’s infection control measures also made him popular in these circles.

So did the law that allowed Florida residents to carry concealed firearms without obtaining a special permit.

Foreign policy lightweight

Critics point out that he is a lightweight when it comes to foreign policy. He has previously established that the US should not interfere in the “territorial dispute” between Russia and Ukraine, but should take a tough line against countries such as China, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela.

He has criticized President George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq and is generally opposed to the US intervening militarily in other countries.

Americans’ freedom does not depend on freedom in other countries, seems to be a basic idea of ​​DeSantis, who also protested when former President Barack Obama wanted to send forces to Syria.

The Florida governor is a sworn friend of Israel with a close relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During a visit to the country in April, he would not agree that the West Bank is illegally occupied as the UN states, but instead referred to the area as “disputed territory”.

Far behind

Like any aspiring politician, DeSantis has all come with an autobiography. The title reads «The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival» and in the book he lashes out in the best Trump style against the elite in Washington who he claims have driven the country into a ditch.

However, voters do not seem to be convinced that he is the right man for the White House, and according to the polls, he is far behind Trump.

Support for Trump has steadily increased among Republicans over the past two months and is now around 53 per cent. Support for DeSantis has fallen at the same time and is now at just over 20 per cent.

«Ron DeSanctimonious»

Trump nevertheless clearly sees DeSantis as a potentially dangerous challenger and has repeatedly made disparaging remarks about the scandal-free governor in recent months, including by refer to him as Ron DeSanctimonious – the hypocrite.

One of those supporting DeSantis is entrepreneur and multi-billionaire Elon Musk. But whether the support from Musk will be enough to change the Republican voters’ view of DeSantis is uncertain.

Musk made it clear in November that he wanted the Florida governor in the White House, describing him as “sensible and centrist.” To what extent he will throw himself into the election campaign on DeSantis’ side, not least financially, remains to be seen.