<div>
The long-running effort by a “back-bench” state representative to criminalize the DeSantis administration’s signature charitable initiative has officially <a href="https://floridianpress.com/2026/02/trumps-doj-dismisses-complaint-against-casey-desantis-hope-florida-and-james-uthmeier/">hit a dead end</a>. According to a Department of Justice (DOJ) source with direct knowledge of the matter, federal officials have declined to move forward with a case against the Hope Florida Foundation and Attorney General James Uthmeier, concluding there is “no predicate” for an investigation.
</div>
<div>
The allegations, spearheaded by Republican State Representative Alex Andrade, centered on a $10 million Medicaid settlement involving Centene Corporation. Andrade claimed the funds were illegally funneled through Casey DeSantis’ charity to anti-marijuana political committees. However, the DOJ’s decision to pass on the case marks a total collapse of the narrative. “No further action is anticipated,” the source confirmed, putting an end to what administration officials have termed a “sideshow.”
The dismissal has triggered a fresh escalation in the feud between Uthmeier and Andrade. On Monday, Uthmeier <a href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/uthmeier-calls-gop-lawmakers-ouster-house-leadership-position">called for Andrade’s ouster</a> as Chair of the House Health Care Budget Subcommittee, citing a massive conflict of interest: Andrade’s law firm currently represents Planned Parenthood in a $357 million lawsuit brought by the state.
“Somebody that’s aligned with Planned Parenthood, endangering women and children, should not be chairing a subcommittee focused on the health of our citizens,” Uthmeier stated. Deputy Chief of Staff Jeremy Redfern was even more blunt, stating, “As we’ve said since the beginning, a back-bench state representative started a hoax investigation into Hope Florida for political reasons. We appreciate the Department of Justice putting this sideshow to bed once and for all. Ever since Amendment 3 &amp; 4 failed, Rep. Andrade has filed legislation on behalf of Big Marijuana Corporations, and his law firm is now defending Planned Parenthood against the people of Florida. Nobody should take this guy seriously.”
</div>
<div>
The record of GOP Governor Ron DeSantis and Uthmeier stands as one of the most consequential in Florida history. Under DeSantis, Florida has paid down <a href="https://www.nasbo.org/mainsite/resources/proposed-enacted-budgets/florida-budget">over $5.3 billion</a> in state debt and maintained record surpluses, all while keeping taxes at historic lows. He <a href="https://www.federationforchildren.org/governor-ron-desantis-signs-largest-school-choice-expansion-in-u-s-history/">signed</a> the largest school-choice expansion in U.S. history and <a href="https://stateline.org/2022/03/29/florida-governor-signs-bill-critics-dubbed-dont-say-gay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">championed</a> the Parental Rights in Education Act, which ensures classroom transparency. He <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/FLDEP/bulletins/3ff71c0">secured</a> more than $800 million annually for Everglades restoration, the highest level of funding in state history.
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<div>
Since taking office, Uthmeier has <a href="https://dailycitizen.focusonthefamily.com/florida-ag-announces-122-children-rescued-in-operation-home-for-the-holidays/">overseen the arrest</a> of more than 1,200 child predators and the rescue of 300 missing children. His Retail Theft Task Force has <a href="https://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrelease/attorney-general-james-uthmeier-highlights-successful-year-delivering-floridians">secured</a> over 130 years of combined prison sentences for organized crime rings. He spearheaded “Alligator Alcatraz,” an enforcement facility in the Everglades designed to detain and process illegal aliens, while <a href="https://www.myfloridalegal.com/newsrelease/attorney-general-james-uthmeier-highlights-successful-year-delivering-floridians">successfully</a> challenging federal overreach in court.
</div>

Casey DeSantis

DOJ Torpedoes Attack On DeSantis Charity As Case Against Administration Implodes

Department of Justice

Florida

Florida first lady Casey DeSantis indicated on Friday that she is considering launching a bid to replace her husband as the state&#8217;s next governor in 2026 when Governor Ron DeSantis will finish his final term in office.
Casey DeSantis made the remarks during National Review Institute’s Ideas Summit following weeks of speculation that she may run.
“Well, first of all, I mean, this guy’s the GOAT [Greatest Of All-Time],&#8221; she said, referring to her husband. &#8220;Like, honestly, everything that he says he’s gonna do, he does. And I’m just sitting here listening to him, and he makes it sound really easy. ‘Like, I did this, and I did this, and we did this, and now our voter registration is 1.2 million Republicans more than Democrats, and we did this, and we turned the vote,’ and all of this stuff.&#8221;
&#8220;Florida’s the free state of Florida because you’ve got the GOAT in the governor’s office because of one key thing: Having a backbone,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;And when you have the opportunity to stand up for what’s right, you’re courageous and you put yourself into the arena, and you fight like heck. And I’ll tell you what, I’ve been around politics, and I’ve seen a lot of people. Not a lot of people have a backbone like him.&#8221;
She said that the people she has seen get into political office often do so because &#8220;they wanna be somebody.&#8221;
&#8220;They don’t wanna do good things, they don’t wanna get criticized,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They like the cocktail parties. You know, they think about what’s next on the next political rung in their career. Like the Founders never thought that politics should ever have been a career, right? You were supposed to go up and serve, and you come home, and you live under the laws that you pass.&#8221;
She warned that many of the victories that DeSantis scored for the conservative movement could be easily ruined if the wrong person were to wind up getting elected to be the state&#8217;s next governor.
&#8220;So it’s the long-winded answer of saying, you know, we’ll see,&#8221; she said on the matter of whether she will run for office. &#8220;We’ll see.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/CaseyDeSantis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CaseyDeSantis</a>: &quot;We&#39;ll See.&quot;
👀👀👀 <a href="https://t.co/By0XgPt18S">pic.twitter.com/By0XgPt18S</a>
&mdash; NR Institute (@NR_Institute) <a href="https://twitter.com/NR_Institute/status/1903118899089969556?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ron-and-casey-desantis-golf-eat-with-trump-amid-speculation-she-is-preparing-bid-for-governor">Ron And Casey DeSantis Golf, Eat With Trump Amid Speculation She Is Preparing Bid For Governor</a>

Ron DeSantis Campaigns For President Across Iowa

Casey DeSantis Weighs In On Launching Bid For Florida Governor

Elections

Politics

Ron DeSantis

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and first lady Casey DeSantis played golf and had lunch with President Donald Trump on Saturday amid speculation that she is preparing to launch a bid to become the state&#8217;s next governor.
The three spent the time together at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach, an administration official told Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan.
When asked by reporters on Friday about running for governor, Casey DeSantis said, “To quote the late and great Yogi Berra: ‘When you come to a fork in the road, take it.’”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey DeSantis had lunch and golfed with President Donald Trump at Trump International Golf Club today, a White House administration official confirms to <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDailyWire</a>.
“Well, I would say one thing,” Florida’s First Lady told…
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1895937192759083398?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
The news comes after Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) announced this week that he was running to become the state&#8217;s next governor, a choice he made after Trump encouraged him to run in a social media post where he said that Donalds had his support.
DeSantis touted Casey as his potential replacement, and poured water on electing Donalds, when asked last week about Trump&#8217;s endorsement.
“We have such a narrow majority that to be trying to campaign other places and missing these votes, I think, is not something that’s advisable at all,” he said. “And so the reality is we’ve achieved victories in Florida. We need to start achieving those victories up there.”
DeSantis said that Donalds “hasn’t been a part of any of the victories that we’ve had here over the Left, over these last years.”
“He’s just not been a part of it,” he said. “He’s been in other states campaigning, doing that, and that’s fine, but okay, well then deliver results up there. You know, that’s what I want to see. I want to see them delivering results for the people of Florida. We deliver it here all the time for the people of Florida, and that’s what we need to be doing.”
He warned that the state could easily revert back to being a swing state if it was not managed effectively, despite the massive surge in Republican registration there in recent years.
“People ask me all the time about our wonderful first lady, who has done a fantastic job as first lady of Florida,” DeSantis later added.
“I will tell you this — you’re talking about somebody like her — I won by the biggest margin that any Republican’s ever won a governor’s race here in Florida, she would do better than me, like there’s no question about that, that would happen,” he said. “And she’s somebody that has, I think, the intestinal fortitude and the dedication to conservative principles that, you know, anything we’ve accomplished, she’d be able to take to the next level.”
DeSantis said that former conservative icon Rush Limbaugh had once told him that the only other person he would rather see run Florida other than him was Casey.
“His eyes are lighting up because Rush would always say the spouses are more liberal, and it pulls the office holder to the left,” he said. “And on this case, he’s saying, like, that is not true. And so at the end of the dinner, he put his finger in my chest. He’s like, the only person I would rather have as my governor than you is her. And he pointed to her, and I was like, that’s a pretty good endorsement there.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) says that First Lady Casey DeSantis would win by even larger margins than he did during his 20-point victory in 2022 and that she would be able to take the state to the &#8220;next level.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/7DMKcGbSdd">pic.twitter.com/7DMKcGbSdd</a>
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1894190514192171285?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
Mary Margaret Olohan contributed to this report.

Ron DeSantis Holds Election Night Event In Tampa

Ron And Casey DeSantis Golf, Eat With Trump Amid Speculation She Is Preparing Bid For Governor

Byron Donalds

Donald Trump

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis touted his wife Casey DeSantis this week when asked at a press conference about who may replace him as the state&#8217;s governor in the 2026 elections.
The matter came up when a reporter asked DeSantis about President Donald Trump endorsing Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) to be the state&#8217;s next governor.
&#8220;We have such a narrow majority that to be trying to campaign other places and missing these votes, I think, is not something that&#8217;s advisable at all,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And so the reality is we&#8217;ve achieved victories in Florida. We need to start achieving those victories up there.&#8221;
DeSantis said that Donalds &#8220;hasn&#8217;t been a part of any of the victories that we&#8217;ve had here over the Left, over these last years.&#8221;
&#8220;He&#8217;s just not been a part of it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;He&#8217;s been in other states campaigning, doing that, and that&#8217;s fine, but okay, well then deliver results up there. You know that&#8217;s what I want to see. I want to see them delivering results for the people of Florida. We deliver it here all the time for the people of Florida, and that&#8217;s what we need to be doing.&#8221;
DeSantis said that he wants to back someone who is going to &#8220;be able to continue and build off the success that we&#8217;ve had here in Florida.&#8221;
He warned that the state could easily revert back to being a swing state if it was not managed effectively, despite the massive surge in Republican registration there in recent years.
&#8220;People ask me all the time about our wonderful first lady, who has done a fantastic job as first lady of Florida,&#8221; DeSantis later added.
&#8220;I will tell you this — you&#8217;re talking about somebody like her — I won by the biggest margin that any Republican&#8217;s ever won a governor&#8217;s race here in Florida, she would do better than me, like there&#8217;s no question about that, that would happen,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And she&#8217;s somebody that has, I think, the intestinal fortitude and the dedication to conservative principles that, you know, anything we&#8217;ve accomplished, she&#8217;d be able to take to the next level.&#8221;
DeSantis said that former conservative icon Rush Limbaugh had once told him that the only other person he would rather see run Florida other than him was Casey.
&#8220;His eyes are lighting up because Rush would always say the spouses are more liberal, and it pulls the office holder to the left,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And on this case, he&#8217;s saying, like, that is not true. And so at the end of the dinner, he put his finger in my chest. He&#8217;s like, the only person I would rather have as my governor than you is her. And he pointed to her, and I was like, that&#8217;s a pretty good endorsement there.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) says that First Lady Casey DeSantis would win by even larger margins than he did during his 20-point victory in 2022 and that she would be able to take the state to the &#8220;next level.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/7DMKcGbSdd">pic.twitter.com/7DMKcGbSdd</a>
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1894190514192171285?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2025</a></blockquote>

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, holds a press conference to speak

DeSantis Touts Wife Casey When Pressed About Who Will Replace Him In 2026

Mourners were joined by current and former politicians Monday for a somber ceremony marking the 22nd anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. 
Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL), with his wife Casey, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/11/nyregion/september-11-memorial-event.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attended</a> the commemoration, along with New York Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY), New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and former NYC Mayors Bill de Blasio, Michael Bloomberg, and Rudy Giuliani, who led the city through the attacks. The group of politicians attended the ceremony, not to speak, but to stand alongside some of the family members of the 2,977 people who lost their lives in the 9/11 attack as the names of those who died were read aloud, the Associated Press <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/harris-desantis-giuliani-politicians-marking-sept-11-terror-103088478" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. 
President Joe Biden was not present, making him the <a href="https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2023/09/10/biden-to-head-to-alaska--harris-to-nyc-to-mark-22nd-anniversary-of-9-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first president</a> since the terror attacks not to visit one of the three 9/11 memorial sites (Ground Zero, the Pentagon Memorial, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania) on September 11. Biden, returning from his trip to India and Vietnam, stopped in Anchorage, Alaska, to commemorate the 9/11 terror attacks with troops and their families at a military base.  
Former President Donald Trump, a former New Yorker, was also absent from the Ground Zero ceremony. Trump released a <a href="https://twitter.com/kimguilfoyle/status/1701229022389146027" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video</a> on social media honoring the lives lost and the heroic actions of first responders on 9/11.
Adams, who was a police lieutenant on the day Islamic terrorists flew two airplanes into the World Trade Center, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/cbs-new-york-one-one-one-mayor-eric-adams-says-images-of-911-never-left-and-influence-his-leadership-today/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CBS News that the country’s response to the attacks was a definitive moment in the history of New York and the U.S.  
“The greatest thing about New York City in America was not what happened on 9/11, but what happened on 9/12,” he said. “We got up, teachers taught, builders built and we continued to show that we were not going to bend or break.”
Many Americans across the country are commemorating the September 11 attacks by attending vigils or watching newsreels of the fateful day that changed their country forever, but for some Americans, the trauma of September 11, 2001, isn’t just a thing of the past. 
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://onelink.to/dwapp" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-60965">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
“For those of us who lost people on that day, that day is still happening,” <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sept-11-terror-attack-anniversary-ceremonies-47488758b18fd78f541674041e36d263" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Edward Edelman, whose brother-in-law Daniel McGinley lost his life on 9/11. “Everybody else moves on. And you find a way to go forward, but that day is always happening for you.”

9/11 Ceremony – Ground Zero

NYC Leaders From Past And Present Joined By DeSantis, VP Harris At Ground Zero For 9/11 Ceremony

9/11

Eric Adams

General

Joe Biden

Kamala Harris

New York

New York City

U.S.

A large 100-year-old oak tree fell on the Florida Governor&#8217;s Mansion as the state deals with a historic hurricane slamming into Florida&#8217;s Big Bend.
Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis <a href="https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/1696928506909786613">said</a> no one was injured when asked during a press conference about the incident.
&#8220;100 year old oak tree falls on the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee — Mason, Madison, Mamie and I were home at the time, but thankfully no one was injured,&#8221; DeSantis&#8217; wife, Casey, wrote on X. &#8220;Our prayers are with everyone impacted by the storm.&#8221;
<a class="c-link c-link--focus-visible" href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://onelink.to/dwapp" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-45160">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
100 year old oak tree falls on the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee — Mason, Madison, Mamie and I were home at the time, but thankfully no one was injured.
Our prayers are with everyone impacted by the storm. <a href="https://t.co/l6MOE8wNMC">pic.twitter.com/l6MOE8wNMC</a>
&mdash; Casey DeSantis (@CaseyDeSantis) <a href="https://twitter.com/CaseyDeSantis/status/1696926357404500285?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Idalia, called “an unprecedented event” by the National Weather Service in Tallahassee, is the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12459431/hurricane-idalia-florida-refuse-evacuation-orders.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most powerful storm</a> to hit Florida’s Big Bend in over 125 years, triggering evacuation orders affecting tens of thousands of people.
Idalia had reached the speed of 156 mph as a Category 4 storm in the Gulf of Mexico before hitting land, but dropped in intensity. The National Hurricane Center <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/08/30/hurricane-idalia-now-category-4-hurricane-approaching-florida-landfall/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explained</a> the storm was altering because of an eyewall replacement cycle. “This change in wind speed does not diminish the threat of catastrophic storm surge and damaging winds,” the NHC stated, warning that the storm surge could reach 12-16 feet.
“There will be impacts far beyond the eyewall,” Governor Ron DeSantis told a press conference in Tallahassee on Wednesday morning, noting that the area has already seen 11 tornado warnings, with more possible. “Don’t put your life at risk by doing anything dumb at this point,” the governor urged. “This thing’s powerful. If you’re inside just hunker down until it gets past.”

Tree

100-Year-Old Oak Tree Falls On Florida Governor’s Mansion

100-Year-Old Oak Tree Falls On Florida Governor's Mansion

Hurricane Idalia

Severe Weather

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/casey-desantis-launches-national-campaign-mamas-for-desantis-in-iowa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Casey DeSantis</a> had nothing but praise for her husband Republican Florida Gov. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ron-desantis-on-the-u-s-border-will-shut-it-down-build-a-wall-end-mass-migration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ron DeSantis</a> and all the support he gave her as she recounted her emotional battle with breast cancer.
Florida&#8217;s first lady and her husband, who is a leading GOP presidential candidate for 2024, spoke to <a href="https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/1688529381482758146?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News</a> while on the campaign trail about her cancer battle after being diagnosed in October 2021 before being declared cancer-free a year later.
&#8220;He [DeSantis] was there for me, and he was there to go pick up my kids when I couldn&#8217;t,&#8221; Casey said. &#8220;And he did it with humility, and he did it with love.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WATCH: Casey DeSantis gets emotional discussing Ron DeSantis&#39; support for her during battle with breast cancer
&quot;He was there for me, and he was there to go pick up my kids when I couldn&#39;t. And he did it with humility, and he did it with love. And, I&#39;ll tell you what, you can&#39;t… <a href="https://t.co/Ut0T4w70dg">pic.twitter.com/Ut0T4w70dg</a>
&mdash; Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/1688529381482758146?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;And, I&#8217;ll tell you what, you can&#8217;t ask for a better husband than that,&#8221; she added, as she started to get emotional.
When pressed by the interviewer how it felt to have his wife say that about him, the governor quoted marriage vows.
&#8220;In sickness and in health,&#8221; DeSantis replied. &#8220;That&#8217;s what you sign up for. She&#8217;s not only my wife, she&#8217;s my best friend. And so this is just what you do.&#8221;
In October 2022, Casey <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/florida-first-lady-casey-desantis-celebrates-being-cancer-free-praises-husband-in-new-ad" target="_blank" rel="noopener">praised her husband</a> for all his support during her battle with cancer.
&#8220;If you want to know who Ron DeSantis really is, when I was diagnosed with cancer, and I was facing the battle for my life, he was the dad who took care of my children when I couldn’t,&#8221; Casey said.
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&#8220;He was there to pick me off of the ground when I literally could not stand,&#8221; she added. &#8220;He was there to fight for me when I didn&#8217;t have the strength to fight for myself.&#8221;
The GOP governor announced on October 4, 2021 that the state&#8217;s first lady was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent six rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation. In March 2022, the <a href="https://www.flgov.com/2022/03/03/governor-ron-desantis-first-lady-casey-desantis-is-cancer-free/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DeSantis office</a> shared the news that his wife was cancer free.
&#8220;After going through both treatment and surgery for breast cancer, she is now considered cancer free,&#8221; the governor said. &#8220;All of you who have given thoughts and prayers to my family and my wife, thank you. It&#8217;s lifted her spirits and made a tremendous difference.&#8221;
The first lady of the state added, &#8220;There are no words to express how truly blessed, grateful and humbled I am to hear the words cancer free. To those who are in the fight, know there is hope. Have faith and stay strong.&#8221;

‘You Can’t Ask For A Better Husband Than That’: Casey DeSantis Recounts Emotional Breast Cancer Battle

'You Can't Ask For A Better Husband Than That': Casey DeSantis' Recounts Emotional Breast Cancer Battle

2024 Election

Breast Cancer

Celebrities

Former President Donald Trump lashed out at popular Iowa GOP Governor Kim Reynolds on Monday for not endorsing him, snapping, “I don’t invite her to events!”
Trump visited Iowa on Friday; Reynolds did not attend, and an aide to Reynolds <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/08/us/politics/trump-desantis-iowa-governor.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly said</a> she was not invited. Although Reynolds has publicly praised Trump’s chief rival for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis, she has not endorsed any candidate as yet.
“I&#8217;m not going to tell Iowans what to do,” Reynolds <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2023/02/15/iowa-gov-kim-reynolds-questions-ahead-caucus-2024-presidential-candidates/69900605007/">said</a> of the 2024 campaign. “They&#8217;re very good at this process. They&#8217;re sizing up the candidate.”
“I opened up the Governor position for Kim Reynolds, &amp; when she fell behind, I ENDORSED her, did big Rallies, &amp; she won,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/110690659780399869" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on Truth Social. “Now, she wants to remain ‘NEUTRAL.’ I don’t invite her to events!”
Reynolds rose to her position by succeeding Governor Terry Branstad, whom Trump appointed as Ambassador to China in 2017.
“There is no politician in Iowa with greater sway than Ms. Reynolds, 63, who has overseen her party’s swelling state legislative majorities with an approval rating among Republicans <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-poll/2023/03/26/iowa-poll-kim-reynolds-approval-rating-decreases-amid-polarizing-education-transgender-bills/69982746007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">near 90 percent</a>,” The New York Times noted.
Reynolds won her second straight victory as governor in 2022 in a landslide. Last June, Trump referred to her first victory in 2018, telling an Iowa crowd, “I hate to say it, without me, you know, she was not going to win, you know that, right?” The New York Times reported that Reynolds “reacted with disbelief to his comment that she owed him her governorship.”
Still, after Trump was indicted by the Biden DOJ last month, Reynolds blasted the Biden administration, <a href="https://governor.iowa.gov/press-release/2023-06-09/gov-reynolds-statement-doj-indictment-president-trump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stating</a>, “The federal indictment of former President Trump represents a grave warning sign for the state of equal justice and public trust in government institutions in this country. &#8230; the Biden administration’s weaponization of the Justice Department will diminish Americans’ confidence in law enforcement institutions for decades to come.”
In recent weeks, Reynolds has spoken positively of DeSantis, stating, “He proudly signed a law that makes it illegal to stop a baby’s beating heart — the same heartbeat bill that I was proud to sign.&#8221; Last Thursday, as DeSantis’s wife Casey launched her nationwide “Mamas for DeSantis” campaign, Reynolds did a public interview with her.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Holds Campaign Kickoff Event

Trump Lashes Out At Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds

Iowa

Kim Reynolds

A panel discussion on MSNBC over the weekend quickly devolved into the host and guests slinging insults at Florida&#8217;s First Lady Casey DeSantis — and then laughing at their own jokes about her.
The panel, hosted by weekend anchor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-advisor-defends-unsafe-sex-one-persons-idea-of-risk-another-persons-idea-of-a-great-festival" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jonathan Capehart</a>, included former Florida congressman — and former Republican — David Jolly along with former GOP communications director <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/msnbc-guest-calls-tim-scott-a-racial-pacifier-and-security-blanket-for-republicans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tara Setmayer</a>. All three of them attacked Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL), taking direct aim at <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/casey-desantis-launches-national-campaign-mamas-for-desantis-in-iowa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Casey DeSantis&#8217;</a> recent &#8220;Mamas for DeSantis&#8221; campaign ad.
WATCH:
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&quot;She&#39;s become America&#39;s Karen,&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidJollyFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DavidJollyFL</a> says about Casey DeSantis. &quot;It doesn&#39;t matter if it&#39;s presented in heels or boots, the DeSantis doctrine is a losing one.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Hn0POU398v">https://t.co/Hn0POU398v</a> <a href="https://t.co/SmVXBqfzpy">pic.twitter.com/SmVXBqfzpy</a>
&mdash; MSNBC (@MSNBC) <a href="https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1677692236383805441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 8, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The ad in question tackled some of the same culture war issues that Governor DeSantis has addressed both on the campaign trail and in his state, specifically issues that families face as children are confronted — in public schools and libraries — with radical gender ideology and drag queen story hours.
&#8220;It’s so dark!&#8221; Capehart complained after showing the ad, asking his panelists to weigh in on the topic.
&#8220;Casey DeSantis is a fairly compelling political figure in Florida and now nationally,&#8221; Jolly began on a positive note. &#8220;For many, she’s the brighter side to Florida’s angry governor. For others, she’s become America’s Karen. And I think that’s the ultimate disconnect here with a campaign that needs to embrace more constituencies to get to the White House.&#8221;
Jolly went on to say that while he believed Casey DeSantis to be a &#8220;more effective&#8221; messenger than the governor himself, he believed she was highlighting a message that was not going to be popular. &#8220;So as I like to say, it doesn’t matter if it’s presented in heels or boots, the DeSantis doctrine is a losing one, and we’re going to learn that the more Casey gets out there.&#8221;
&#8220;David Jolly, you went for it!&#8221; Capehart said, laughing. &#8220;Tara, I think David’s beaten you in terms of taking my breath away during a segment.&#8221;
&#8220;Well, I called her – the Serena Waterford wannabe needs to cut it out,&#8221; Setmayer replied, referencing the evil wife from &#8220;The Handmaid&#8217;s Tale.&#8221;
&#8220;She needs to stop trying to measure the great drapes in the White House and think that she’s some kind of Jackie O reincarnated,&#8221; Setmayer added.
No one on the panel addressed either the content of Casey DeSantis&#8217; ad or any aspect of the &#8220;DeSantis doctrine&#8221; that they insisted was a &#8220;losing doctrine.&#8221;

Philadelphia Prepares To Host Democratic National Convention

MSNBC Panel Attacks Ron DeSantis — By Calling His Wife Names And Laughing About It

Media

MSNBC

Casey DeSantis made her first solo appearance for her husband’s campaign on Thursday as she <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12273171/Casey-DeSantis-shines-solo-campaign-appearance-Iowa.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">launched</a> the national version of “Mamas for DeSantis” in Iowa, where the 2024 presidential season will begin with the Iowa caucuses.
Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis’ wife first launched the statewide version of “Mamas for DeSantis” in 2022, when her husband was reelected governor in a landslide by a whopping 19 points. She signed up over 1.1 million mothers to support her husband, as he won female voters by 9%.
“It’s one thing when your policies come out after us: the mamas. It’s another thing when they come after our children. And that&#8217;s when the claws come out,” she told Iowa voters at the public event.
DeSantis also conducted a public back-and-forth with Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds, who told the audience, “I didn’t run to preserve the status quo; I ran to get things done. I am a woman on a mission and I think you’re a woman on a mission, too.”
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DeSantis <a href="https://twitter.com/TeamDeSantis/status/1677113636152659968" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoke of her battle</a> with breast cancer:
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There was a time in my life when I didn’t know if I was going to see my kids graduate from kindergarten, let alone high school. And I was able to beat that back, but I had some really long, difficult battles. As a matter of fact I remember — and the governor was getting criticized for doing this with me — but I remember every single chemotherapy appointment that I went to, and there were six of them and they were very long and they were very hard, and I had to wear this dumb cold cap on my head that was like an ice cube, you’re like in an igloo for six or seven hours, and he held my hand during every single one of them and he never left my side.
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And I’ll tell you what: when you go through something like that, and you’re in the middle of the night, scared, and you don’t know what’s going to happen, and you crawl into bed with your kids, and you’re getting hope for tomorrow that you can have some more time with them, and then you realize that God has given you more opportunities to be able to live, when you’re given that opportunity in life, what do you do with it?
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“Do I care about what a headline says? No. I care about the innocence of my children and your children,” she concluded to applause.
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We will not allow you to exploit the innocence of our children to advance your agenda.
When you come after our kids, we fight back.
We are no longer silent.
We are united.
We are Mamas for DeSantis.
&#8230;and we will elect <a href="https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RonDeSantis</a> President of the United States.
Join our… <a href="https://t.co/jo6HUATaVa">pic.twitter.com/jo6HUATaVa</a>
&mdash; Casey DeSantis (@CaseyDeSantis) <a href="https://twitter.com/CaseyDeSantis/status/1677061896317353988?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Speaking to voters, DeSantis turned to a prime concern for parents after the 2020 COVID pandemic debacle of children had kept from school across the nation, as her husband had championed opening schools while other states kept them closed. “It should be up to the parents to decide what education they think are best for their children. And government should, again, get out of the way,” she stated.
“It was COVID that was really what led to a lot of this parental empowerment revolution because for the first time parents were peering into the classroom, and they did not like what was being taught they saw: the sexualized curriculum being thrust in front of 5-year-olds,” she said.
She said that her husband had enabled parents “to be able to go to the schools to say ‘I want to see what kind of curriculum you&#8217;re teaching our kids.’ And if they didn&#8217;t give that information to the parent in a timely manner, they then had a right of action to be able to sue.”
DeSantis also focused on the woke issues her husband has confronted during his tenure, saying, “They&#8217;re not doing the woke Olympics, by the way, in the state of Florida. There&#8217;s no discrimination if you use the wrong pronoun.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis

Casey DeSantis Launches National Campaign ‘Mamas For DeSantis’ — In Iowa

Education

Mothers

Schools

Women

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whose support for the state of Israel has always been unyielding, issued a ringing endorsement of the idea that the Jewish people have the strongest claim to the biblical heartland of Israel – using the terms &#8220;Judea&#8221; and &#8220;Samaria.&#8221;
DeSantis did not use the terms “West Bank&#8221; or &#8220;Occupied Territories,&#8221; which are sometimes used by opponents of Israel to ignore the biblical connection of the Jews to Judea and Samaria.
Hebron is considered the burial place of the Biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and where King David was crowned; Shiloh was where the Tabernacle rested for roughly 370 years; Joseph, who became the Egyptian pharoah’s right-hand man, is buried in Shechem; Elon Moreh is where the Bible says God promised the Land of Israel to Abraham; and David fought Goliath in the Valley of Elah. These are just some of the Jewish biblical connections to Judea and Samaria.
“In terms of Judea and Samaria, I&#8217;ve always rejected this idea that it&#8217;s ‘occupied territory,’” DeSantis said in an interview with <a href="https://www.israelhayom.com/2023/06/22/desantis-to-israel-hayom-israel-has-the-strongest-claim-of-right-in-judea-and-samaria/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Israel Hayom</a>, referring to the term sometimes used by those opposed to the Jewish state. “I mean, these are some of the most historic Jewish lands going all the way back to biblical times.”
He gave historical perspective: “Yes, there was a partition plan with the UN in the 1940s. But the Arabs rejected the Partition Plan. It&#8217;d be one thing if they accepted it. Israel was willing to accept, they rejected it. And then they chose to wage war for many decades.”
&#8220;And so it&#8217;s not &#8216;occupied territory,&#8217;” he concluded. “It is disputed territory, and I think Israel&#8217;s claim is the most superior in terms of anybody else for it.”
DeSantis noted that he was the first major elected official (after he had been elected governor of Florida) to do public events in Judea and Samaria in 2019 at Ariel University.
“We wanted to break the stigma that somehow this is not appropriate to be doing, and when we have imposed our anti-BDS sanctions on companies that have targeted Israel, it&#8217;s usually been they&#8217;ve been targeting Jews living in Judea and Samaria,” he recalled.
DeSantis ripped President Biden for not having invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit the White House in the six months since Netanyahu was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/netanyahu-returns-to-power-sworn-in-as-prime-minister-of-israel">elected prime minister</a> once again.
“I think it&#8217;s disgraceful,” he charged. “The U.S.-Israel relationship should be ironclad. We have no better ally in the Middle East. And we have such strong cultural and religious ties to the State of Israel, for [the administration] to be treating Israel really with the back of their hand. I think it&#8217;s a mistake, but I think it&#8217;s part and parcel of how this administration sees the world. I mean, they&#8217;re more interested in kowtowing to Iran than standing by our allies.”
“My view as president would be we&#8217;re going to have a really strong U.S.-Israel relationship, and that&#8217;ll be something that Americans can be proud of,” he concluded.
In late April, DeSantis visited Israel, where he <a href="https://www.flgov.com/2023/04/28/governor-ron-desantis-signs-enhanced-anti-antisemitism-and-anti-bds-legislation-in-israel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> Florida House Bill 269, which provides law enforcement agencies with new enforcement mechanisms to punish perpetrators of anti-Semitic incidents and those who target religious communities.
Vis-à-vis Iran, he explained, “The whole Obama-Khamenei deal [2015 nuclear agreement] was a total disaster and Biden is trying to resuscitate that. &#8230; When you give concessions to the Iranians, they use that money to be able to foment terrorism. They will put that money into weapons development. &#8230; I think squeezing Iran, making sure that they understand that their pursuit of this is going to be bad for them economically, diplomatically, and potentially even militarily, that is the way the only thing that the mullahs understand – strength. You can&#8217;t try to cozy up to them. It just doesn&#8217;t work.”
“I don&#8217;t think Biden&#8217;s fully committed to keeping the embassy there,” DeSantis said of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. “He doesn&#8217;t believe Jerusalem is going to be the undivided capital of Israel, but I think that their [Biden&#8217;s] view would be pre-1967 and we reject that. &#8230; Jerusalem is the indivisible, undivided capital of the Jewish people.”
DeSantis has a visceral connection to the Jewish state: When DeSantis was still a U.S. representative for the 6th congressional district of Florida, he and his wife, Casey, <a href="https://www.deseret.com/2023/4/21/23682140/who-is-ron-desantis-2024-election-war-on-woke" target="_blank" rel="noopener">visited</a> the Sea of Galilee. Casey filled a plastic bottle with water from the sea to use for the baptism of their future children, but around the time their second child was baptized, a cleaning staff mistakenly disposed of the bottle. After that news spread to Israel, someone collected more water from the Sea of Galilee and sent it to DeSantis, who kept it on his desk.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Visits Israel

DeSantis Staunchly Backs Jewish Claim To Heartland Of Israel: Judea And Samaria

Israel

Judea

Samaria

Over the weekend, Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis prompted leftist outrage as she joined her husband Ron in Iowa while wearing a leather jacket emblazoned with the words “Where Woke Goes to Die.”
The executive editor of The Daily Beast opined in a <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/casey-desantis-is-the-walmart-melania-trump">piece</a> titled “Casey DeSantis is the Walmart Melania” that DeSantis wore a “ghastly black leather jacket &#8230; that brought to mind nothing so much as the racks of a Red State big-bin store where it would be retailing for $24.99.”
“They rail against the elites but Ron went to Harvard,” the Daily Beast writes, limning the Florida governor as an elite while ignoring that fact that Ron DeSantis ‘ mother worked as a nurse while his father installed Nielsen TV-rating boxes.
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Casey DeSantis sports ‘Where Woke Goes to Die’ jacket at Iowa GOP event <a href="https://t.co/bnxDlI4mHT">https://t.co/bnxDlI4mHT</a> <a href="https://t.co/5rcJqNesHC">pic.twitter.com/5rcJqNesHC</a>
&mdash; New York Post (@nypost) <a href="https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1665127380027858954?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Echoing the charge by Roger Stone that was parroted by Politico, The Daily Beast writes, “We’ve got a Sunshine State Lady Macbeth &#8230;” The piece gushes, “Of course, neither Melania Trump nor Casey DeSantis could ever embody the class and effortless elegance of Michelle Obama or Dr. Jill Biden.”
“Fashion is a joyous extension of who you are and a symbol of what you want the world to know about you and about what you stand for,” The Daily Beast pronounces. “Think Bernie Sanders in his woolen Inauguration mittens.”
Last August, as he spoke about education in his state, Ron DeSantis vowed to oppose the trends toward Critical Race Theory and radical gender ideology, declaring at a <a href="https://www.wfla.com/news/pasco-county/florida-is-the-place-where-woke-goes-to-die-desantis-says/">press conference,</a> “Obviously in the classroom we’ve battled a lot of ideologies. What I’ve said is the state of Florida is the place where woke goes to die. We are not going to let this state descend into some type of woke dumpster fire. We’re going to be following common sense; we’re going to be following facts.”
As Ron DeSantis has gained prominence, the knives of the Left have come out for his wife. Politico ran a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/05/19/casey-ron-desantis-wife-profile-00097456">piece</a> in mid-May quoting various sources attacking her. The piece also acknowledged that Casey DeSantis and her husband are extraordinarily close, admitting, “They were partners from the start,” while quoting a source who has known the couple for years saying, “They are this singular entity.”
“I can’t think of a spouse who’s more involved in their husband’s political career,” John Thomas, the founder of the Ron to the Rescue super PAC, stated.
Casey DeSantis launched her Hope Florida program in September 2021 to engender a partnership between government agencies and faith-based organizations. The program would allow people receiving public benefits like youth in foster care or pregnant mothers struggling with substance abuse to share their needs on an online “care portal.” The portal would connect them directly to more than 1,000 faith-based organizations and other non-profits.
DeSantis told the Daily Wire:
I would go out and do press conferences early on in 2019 and people would talk about the child welfare sphere, for example. They would look at other states and they would say, ‘Well, here’s what other states are spending per capita on this issue. And your spending is less.’ So by that they were implying that you need to spend more and that will result in the best outcomes. And that just isn’t the case. A lot of times, it’s just throwing money at these programs where you see a lot of bureaucracy and bloat and middle managers. Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/as-california-cancels-walgreens-casey-desantis-partners-with-the-company-to-help-needy-floridians">As California Cancels Walgreens, Casey DeSantis Partners With The Company To Help Needy Floridians</a>

Joni Ernst’s Roast And Ride

Prominent Leftist Outlet Attacks Casey DeSantis’ ‘Where Woke Goes To Die’ Jacket

The Daily Beast

Woke Culture

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