The super PAC supporting Ron DeSantis attacked Florida Politics as a media outlet being “backed by groomers.”
The reason? Publisher Peter Schorsch posted pictures from aboard a Disney cruise.
Never Back Down, a super PAC supporting DeSantis’ presidential ambitions, leveled its attack on Twitter.
A volley of criticism started after Never Back Down shared a clip of DeSantis’ Friday speech at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference in Washington. DeSantis raised his recent legal fights with “woke Disney,” and tossed a barb at rivals for the GOP presidential nomination who criticized the Governor for the feud.
“The sad thing is, a lot of these Republicans are siding with Disney and they’re attacking me,” DeSantis said. “Here’s what I will say: We oppose the sexualization of children. We will do battle with anybody who seeks to rob our children of their innocence, and on those principles, there will be no compromise. We will fight the woke corporations.”
While DeSantis didn’t name any rival in particular, Never Back Down did, tweeting “Faith and Freedom crowd BOOS (Donald) Trump for siding with woke Disney!”
That prompted Schorsch, from a Disney Cruise Line vacation, to tweet a defense of Disney.
“Just want to share the door decor from our Disney Cruise we are embarking on this weekend,” Schorsch posted, with pictures of his room door. “It celebrates the 25th anniversary of the cruise line. We booked this cruise to celebrate that anniversary AND to spite Ron DeSantis’ lunacy with his war on Disney.”
Never Back Down then tweeted an accusation tying Schorsch and Florida Politics to pedophiles and DeSantis’ rivals.
“We get it, you’re bought and paid for by the groomers and Trump,” reads a quote-tweet from the pro-DeSantis organization.
The direct attack from a super PAC that has raised millions of dollars to support DeSantis surprised the publisher.
“To quote the immortal words of philosopher Ron Burgundy, ‘That escalated quickly,’” Schorsch said. “But, seriously, given the libelous tone of the super PAC’s comments, I am exploring my legal options. Lord knows, Jeff Roe has the money.”
Roe is the political consultant running Never Back Down.
The comment drew the attention of other national media outlets as well. New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted, “A presidential super PAC accusing someone of being backed by ‘groomers’ for taking a Disney cruise is where things are.”
The use of the term “groomers,” a reference to pedophiles who condition children for abuse over a long period of time, was popularized as a political attack by Christina Pushaw, the rapid response director for DeSantis’ campaign. She employed the term last year to attack anyone opposed to a parental rights bill decried by critics as Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law.
Disney’s opposition to that law, which now prohibits classroom instruction about gender identity or sexual orientation through 12th grade, ignited the feud between DeSantis and one of Florida’s largest employers. DeSantis responded by ending Disney’s self-governing tax district and, more recently, threatening to impose road tolls and build a state prison by Walt Disney World.
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