Gov. Ron DeSantis is getting unwelcome air cover from a new ad in the wake of his controversial new position on the Ukraine war.
The Center Street PAC rolled out a spot Friday that paints “American Ron DeSantis” as a “new Russian hero fighting imperialist American aggression in our glorious liberation of Ukraine.”
The 15 second spot includes a voiceover with a Russian accent and English and Cyrillic subtitles, and derives the video footage from DeSantis’ own tribute to the Top Gun: Maverick movie from last year, where the “Top Gov” takes aim at unfriendly media outlets.
While the original ad shows DeSantis explaining the art of “dogfighting” with “the corporate media,” with spliced-in footage of DeSantis belittling TV reporters along with shots of the Governor in a flight suit, the Center Street PAC parody cuts much of that narrative, relying on shots of DeSantis’ pastiche of Tom Cruise.
DeSantis was once a hawk on helping Ukraine while in Congress, but his position evolved over the years. Last year, he downplayed the threat posed by Russian leader Vladimir Putin as his troops marauded in Ukraine, likening the dictator to an “authoritarian gas station attendant.”
This year, DeSantis went further, saying that the U.S. had no compelling national interest in what was just a “territorial dispute” between Russia and Ukraine.
The original DeSantis ad was roundly pilloried by his critics last year, who downplayed his staunch attacks on corporate media in favor of withering appraisals of the aesthetics. Many people were striking unfavorable comparisons to 1988 Democratic Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, who did a photo op in a tank with a military helmet on ahead of his loss to Bush later that year. The Lincoln Project offered its own parody of the original spot last year.
See the Center Street PAC ad below.
Have you seen this Ron Desantis ad a new PAC just released? pic.twitter.com/gwPYfupzXh
— Center Street (@CenterStreetPAC) March 17, 2023
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