Democrats should not fear a possible run for president by the alt-right

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Furthermore, authoritarians are racist. De Santis sounds like a racist over and over again. Here are a few examples reported in Miami New Times (September 2018):
  • Gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum says a black man will “monkey-up” Florida
  • He called New York candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Puerto Rican woman, “whatever she is.”
  • He defended a supporter who said “bring back the hanging tree.”
  • He attended a Muslim-bashing event with Steve Bannon
  • He was the moderator of a Facebook group that was a haven for racist memes
  • He proudly associated himself with Sébastien Gorka, who had ties to a Hungarian far-right group that collaborated with the Nazis..
  • His career has been based on immigrant-bashing, supporting Trump’s insane comments about immigrants and condoning deportation.
  • He supports neo-Nazi groups and does not condemn them
  • He falsely called the teaching of black history “critical race theory” to justify banning books and courses from school curricula.lone

DeSantis is not the man to lead America in 2023. His policies seek to limit the rights of non-white, non-Christian, non-heterosexual Americans. He fuels white fear, anti-Semitism, misogyny, homophobia in his base. He advocates a culture-war using rhetoric that divides Americans and encourages violence. His hateful ideologies include:

As mentioned, “Trump with a brain”, DeSantis is dangerous. His policy indicates a lack of sympathy for life. He uses pro-life rhetoric to hide the truth of his hatred of life, which differs from his alt-right view of what life is worth.
  • Signed the “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” law that targets LGBTQ+ youth and educators across the state by preventing them from maintaining and providing a safe, inclusive classroom. It would prevent teachers from talking about LGBTQ+ issues or people, further stigmatize LGBTQ+ people, and isolate LGBTQ+ kids. (Human Rights Campaign, June 2022).
  • Approved the “Stop Walk Act” which “censors honest conversations about systemic racism, gender and race discrimination and restricts protected speech in workplaces with more than fifteen employees and classrooms. It also changes Florida’s employment discrimination laws to require employees to train or black history, LGBTQ+ Gives the power to file discrimination claims against employers who engage in discussions about issues and other notions of injustice and discrimination” (Human Rights Campaign, June 2022).
  • Endorsed election-denying, racist, misogynist candidates JD Vance and Doug Mastriano of Ohio
  • “Disney stripped of power to govern itself in retaliation for company’s opposition to crackdown on LGBTQ+ conversations with school kids”. (Guardian, August 31, 2022 Robert Reich).
  • Taking extreme measures to control how schools and universities operate
  • Trump-like revenge against those who oppose his ideals
  • Supports banning abortion with no exceptions

Guardian journalist Richard Rich used the term “fascism” when referring to DeSantis. Rich writes, “Fascism also included hatred of “them” (those considered different by race or religion, or outside the mainstream, or who were born abroad), control over what people learned and what books they were allowed to read, over what was independent government. control units (school boards, medical boards, universities and so on), control over women and the most intimate and difficult decisions they will make, and claim that the private sector supports the regime.” Republicans have attacked Reich for mentioning fascism when describing DeSantis. However, the term seems to fit.

Despite DeSantis’ constant bluster about loving democracy, he consistently attacks the individual, constitutionally-protected rights of every American who disagrees with his governing ideals. Does that sound terribly familiar?

Published by rebeccasperber