Here’s What We Know About Ron DeSantis’ Book As It Hits The Shelves
Topline
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will release his new book The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Survival on Tuesday, defending his policies in Florida ahead of an anticipated run for president in 2024—here’s what we’ve learned so far from details of the book released ahead of its publication.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis waves as he speaks to police officers on February 20 in the Staten Island … [+]
Key Facts
DeSantis praised the “unique star power” former President Donald Trump brought to the 2016 race, Fox News and the Guardian report, and challenged the allegations of the Trump campaign colluding with Russia, calling them “little more than a tall tale, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
DeSantis appreciated Trump endorsing him for governor in 2018 because he “knew that a Trump endorsement would provide me with the exposure to GOP primary voters across the State of Florida,” and he and Trump “had developed a good relationship” when DeSantis was in Congress because he “supported his initiatives … and opposed the Russia collusion conspiracy theory.”
DeSantis does oppose Trump extending Covid-19 lockdown measures for more than 15 days and signing Congress’ coronavirus relief bill, according to the Guardian.
As Florida continues to penalize Disney for opposing the state’s Parental Rights in Education law, known by critics as “Don’t Say Gay,” DeSantis said former Disney CEO Bob Chapek privately called him before the bill passed and said Chapek “did not want Disney to get involved, but he was getting a lot of pressure to weigh in against the bill,” describing it as “different” from other pressure the company’s gotten in the past.
DeSantis told Chapek he shouldn’t cave to the pressure, saying Disney would get 48 hours of outrage after the bill was signed and then “there will be some new outrage that the woke mob will focus on,” as reported by Fox News.
DeSantis wants to convert 50,000 federal employees who now serve as career civil servants into “at-will employees who serve at the pleasure of the president,” according to the New York Times review of the book, after the governor told the New York Post he wants to move federal agencies out of Washington, D.C.
The book criticizes Big Tech and the media, according to the Guardian’s review of the book, calling national outlets the “praetorian guard of the nation’s failed ruling class” and decrying major tech companies’ purported censorship and “wokeness.”
Crucial Quote
Analysis by political pundits that characterized Trump’s 2016 presidential nomination as a “hostile takeover of the Republican Party” got the issue “exactly backwards,” DeSantis argued in his book. “Since Ronald Reagan flew back to California on January 20, 1989, the GOP grass roots had been longing for someone who rejected the old-guard way of doing business and who could speak to their concerns and aspirations,” DeSantis wrote, as quoted by the Guardian. “Trump supported policies that appealed to the base in a way that GOP leaders in the D.C. swamp had been either incapable of doing or unwilling to do.”
Chief Critic
The Times gave The Courage to be Free an unflattering review, describing it as “courageously free of anything that resembles charisma, or a discernible sense of humor” and “read[ing] like a politician’s memoir churned out by ChatGPT.” “If part of the point of this book is to float a trial balloon for a presidential run, you can see the gears turning as he tries to make his message palatable for the national stage,” critic Jennifer Szalai wrote about DeSantis’ “anti-woke” policies. “Take out the gauzy abstraction, the heartwarming clichés, and much of what DeSantis is describing in The Courage to Be Free is chilling — unfree and scary.”
Big Number
28%. That’s the share of Republican primary voters who said they would vote for DeSantis in a Fox News poll conducted February 19-22, versus 43% who plan to support Trump. Of those who prefer Trump, 42% said DeSantis would be their second-choice candidate.
What To Watch For
DeSantis is widely expected to launch a presidential bid, though it’s still unclear when he’ll do so. Florida’s legislative session will start March 7 and end in May and the governor has hinted he could make an announcement after it ends, as the legislative session is expected to push more right-wing policies that DeSantis can use to bolster his candidacy with the GOP base. In the meantime, the governor has increasingly been traveling to other states outside of Florida, which will ramp up as he promotes his book, and hosted a retreat last weekend with major Republican officials and donors.
Key Background
DeSantis was elected as Florida governor in 2018 and has risen in prominence to become the GOP’s main anticipated rival to Trump in 2024. The governor has garnered national attention and widespread scrutiny for his policies in Florida, particularly attempts to erase purported “wokeness” from schools through efforts like the “Don’t Say Gay” law, attacks on a new AP African-American Studies course and restrictions on books in school libraries. DeSantis’ 2024 prospects grew after he sailed to reelection by a nearly 20-point margin in November, and the governor has increasingly become the target of attacks from Trump, who has dubbed him “Ron DeSanctimonious” and “Meatball Ron.” In line with the flattery for Trump in his book, DeSantis has so far not attacked Trump in response, though when asked about recent comments of Trump’s, DeSantis responded by saying he doesn’t “spend [his] time trying to smear other Republicans.”
Further Reading
DeSantis praises Trump for ‘enhancing my name recognition’ in new book (The Guardian)
Preaching Freedom, Ron DeSantis Leads By Cracking Down (New York Times)
DeSantis moves toward GOP presidential bid on his own terms (Associated Press)
