Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has joined the chorus of conservatives taking exception to a prominent Democratic lawmaker’s weekend comment regarding policy positions taken by progressives in 2020 that are now seen as out of the political mainstream.
Speaking on ABC’s This Week, New York Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended her previous advocacy for “defunding the police” by saying, “When we talk about crime today, it’s fundamentally different than the way that we talked about crime in bringing crime down.”
She joked about what she said a local city councilman described as “Woke 1.”
“Oh, that was just Woke 1. It was crazy.’ Like really?” DeSantis said during a press conference in Pensacola. “You’re really going to just say that it was a mulligan or something like that? Like, people were actually attacking law enforcement. They wanted to defund the police. You did have candidates and still have candidates who talk about abolishing prisons.”
The governor never uttered Ocasio-Cortez’ name, instead describing her as “one of the big lefties.” He went on to say, “You got swept up in that frenzy. Not me. Not Florida. We were the first state to fight back, and we fought back very quickly. But you got swept up in that frenzy. You don’t get to say, ‘Oh, that was yesterday, let’s just move on.’ If you’re embracing things like abolishing law enforcement? Abolishing prisons? “
Many Democratic candidates running for political office in Florida in 2020 were tagged by Republicans with supporting a “defund the police” position although few, if any, did. Many Florida Democrats running for office this year have advocated defunding ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), including U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon.
DeSantis derided Democratic Socialists of America candidates on police and prisons. “They start talking about social workers and stuff like that. You know … someone breaking into your house, sending social worker is not going to help you. You need law enforcement.”
In the aftermath of the protests over the homicide of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, St. Petersburg created a program that sends social workers, and not police, to non-violent 911 calls involving mental health crises, suicide intervention, truancy, homeless complaints, and neighborhood disputes.
