Gaetz and Donalds, who had previously backed Trump for president in 2024, rushed to defend Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after audio recordings of his debate preparation for the 2018 election were made public on Sunday.
In 2018, I led Desantis Debate Prep as its director. Gaetz said on Twitter, “even though I’m a big Trump supporter, I won’t stand for it.” He called the individual who released the recordings a “disloyal hacker.” Employees who spread rumors about former coworkers deserve the negative reactions they get.
The congressman continued, stating, “He didn’t say anything wrong.” There’s an ancient adage that goes something like, “Still, that doesn’t make this leak honorable.”
Trump continued, stating, “These tapes shouldn’t have been shared,” and claiming he had assisted DeSantis in debate preparation. The circumstance is critical.
DeSantis’ comments about being cautious not to offend Trump supporters may have influenced many viewers to see the videos favorably despite their obvious malevolent purpose.
In a heated discussion, the question “Is there anything you disagree with President Trump on?” might arise. DeSantis made the comment in question.
“I have to figure out how to do this,” DeSantis said. He naturally said, “there is,” given that he had previously cast a no vote against him in Congress. I need to find out how to word this so that I don’t alienate all of his fans.
The video shows DeSantis stating he would tell Trump’s detractors that he did “what I think is right” and that he “supports [Trump’s] agenda in terms of what he’s been able to do.”
DeSantis has remarked, “If I don’t agree with him, I talk to him alone.”
Quoted in the video, DeSantis says he doesn’t want to make ugly “digs” at individuals because he doesn’t think they work and it makes him appear like a “a**h***.”
When his Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum falsely accused him of using a racial epithet, DeSantis said he should have fought back more aggressively in another footage. Following the discovery of Gillum in a hotel room with a homosexual male escort who had overdosed on opiates, a federal criminal probe into his behavior was expected to begin.
According to DeSantis, “We did such a bad job of fighting back against all these stupid stories from the start,” prompting him to lash out in a scathing rebuttal.
In the video, Gaetz can be heard saying that DeSantis is becoming “too hot” on the subject.
It’s vital that it’s nice and warm! DeSantis let out a loud yell.
After the tape was released, Gaetz tweeted, “DeSantis was right to do what he did based on what I told him about this.” I’m sure whomever said this to him did it with malicious intent.
It all started with a comment made by DeSantis on Fox News:
Florida is a swing state, but he is still too liberal for the state. Even though I believe he has made many poor decisions as mayor of Tallahassee, I find him to be an interesting and persuasive advocate for the far left. He performed the finest job of any of the Democratic speakers, none of whose arguments had interested me. Florida’s progress toward progress requires our best efforts. Let’s maintain our collaboration with Governor Scott and expand upon his previous successes. The last thing we need is to agree to a socialist plan that would lead to massive tax rises and the eventual bankruptcy of the state. This is never, ever going to occur.
Former Daily Wire editor Ben Shapiro disagreed that DeSantis’ remarks were motivated by racism. Though DeSantis had criticized Gillum’s ideas, he had praised his character, he said.
Of course, Gillum is a black man.After saying “monkey this up,” DeSantis was “immediately accused of ‘dog whistling,'” as Shapiro puts it, meaning that DeSantis was asking Floridians not to vote for the black candidate without coming across as racist.The fact that DeSantis used a code term meaning “mess things up” should serve as a warning to any bigots in the audience that Gillum is black. Defending Gillum, he said, “extremely bright and articulate candidate.”
And Shapiro countered, “No, DeSantis didn’t imply that Floridians shouldn’t “monkey things up” by voting for a black candidate. He warned Floridians not to “monkey this up” by voting for a socialist plan that would drastically increase taxes.