A former Florida state attorney who was fired by Ron DeSantis has warned that the governor may be more dangerous than Donald Trump in terms of how he will achieve his political goals if he is elected president.
Andrew Warren was fired as Hillsborough County state’s attorney in August after indicating he would not enforce restrictions on abortion and gender therapy announced by DeSantis. Warren said in a CNN op-ed along with lawyer and former US ambassador to the Czech Republic Norm Eisen that DeSantis is “as dangerous, if not more so, than Trump” after the Florida Republican recently confirmed that he was He will run for president in 2024.
The column details a number of examples in which DeSantis is similar to the former president in terms of how his disregard for “democracy and the rule of law,” including his “glaring abuse of power” in firing Warren after he suggested that I would. not press charges against women or doctors who violate Florida’s proposed 15-week abortion ban.
In January 2023, a judge said the suspension violated the Florida Constitution and was “based in part” on a violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Warren is currently appealing his dismissal in court, but has so far been unsuccessful in his attempts to be reinstated.
“DeSantis’ record reveals a modern-day Machiavelli. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in his infamous stunt using Florida tax dollars to trick nearly 50 immigrants into boarding a plane from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, with promises job and housing empties, an antics that prompted investigations by federal and county authorities,” Warren and Eisen wrote.
“Like Trump on steroids, DeSantis has furthered his political ambitions by attacking his opponents, playing to the lowest common denominator, engaging in political gimmickry and even violating the constitution. This should scare anyone who cares about free speech, the integrity of our elections or the rule of law, three core values on which our nation is built.”
news week reached out to DeSantis’ office via email for comment.
Warren and Eisen also described how DeSantis introduced a series of “speech-shaking legislation,” such as the Parental Rights in Education Bill, legislation DeSantis signed into law in March 2022 that bans discussion of sexual orientation. and gender identity in certain grades in Florida schools. It has been nicknamed the “Don’t Say Gay bill.”
The couple noted that DeSantis has also targeted companies “that dare to challenge him,” most notably Disney after the company objected to the bill.
The ongoing dispute between Disney and the Florida governor saw DeSantis strip the company of its social privileges and tax breaks protected by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which had allowed the company to essentially function as its own autonomous authority in Florida. for more than 50 years.
DeSantis, who has long been considered Trump’s biggest challenger in the 2024 Republican primary, officially confirmed that he will run for president in an online Twitter Space announcement plagued by technical difficulties.
“As the saying goes, ‘When someone shows you who they are, believe them,'” Warren and Eisen wrote in their CNN article, referring to a quote from poet Maya Angelou.
“As America struggles to overcome the divisions of the Trump era and meet the challenges of tomorrow, we need representatives who embody our noblest qualities and core values, not those who sacrifice them for political expediency,” they said.
“We need courageous leaders, not carnival barkers. DeSantis has shown us who he is with a record that should alarm every Floridian and every American. We must believe him.”
