Florida’s Governor says he knows he wasn’t elected to be a “dictator,” but blames the press for acting like he is one.
In Michigan Thursday, Ron DeSantis told a crowd at Hillsdale College that reporters got it wrong regarding his governing philosophy.
“Being elected the chief executive of the state is not the same as being elected the dictator of the state, as much as the media tries to act like we do that,” the Governor contended.
During this speech, he offered variations on familiar themes, including a discussion of “executive leverage” and “pressure points.”
“So we had a good sense of where the pressure points were. We knew how we could use our executive leverage. I knew what my powers were vis a vis local government. I removed people like the Sheriff of Broward after Parkland. I removed supervisors of elections. I removed a George Soros-funded prosecutor in Tampa,” DeSantis contended.
As he is wont to do, he also talked about staff loyalty and how that helps him win battles with the media and the left.
“The reality is that in politics you have people that can be drawn that are bringing their own agenda,” DeSantis said, contextualizing staff purges. “If you have any other agenda, pack your bags and leave. And we had to dismiss some people early.”
“We don’t talk to the media. We had no leaks to the media for four years. And they get very upset about that,” DeSantis said, before offering a window into his approach to government serving as a way to keep his enemies off balance.
“If you’re not doing anything offensively, then the left and the media just start shooting at you all the time and yeah they still shoot at me but they always miss the target because the minute they start complaining about one thing, I’m off doing the next thing. So the best defense is a good offense. So that’s what we did,” DeSantis contended.
“We’ve seen the left get into so many different arteries of our society. So yes you have to limit government and its involvement with you, but you also have to contest the left and all these other institutions,” he added.
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