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Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida: Drastic choice of words in Fox News interview

Photograph:

John Raoux / AP

It cannot be said that the man does not say what he intends to do: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has announced that he will "destroy the left in this country" if he is elected US president. He will be able to "leave the woke ideology on the dustbin of history," DeSantis said in an interview with Fox News.

DeSantis did not say exactly how this will be done – but how long he will remain in office if he is elected: "Everyone knows: If I am nominated, I will beat Joe Biden and then serve two terms." This is likely to be understood as an allusion to the last US President Donald Trump, who did not manage to stay in the White House despite his lie about the stolen election.

Florida's governor worked on the ex-president for large parts of the interview – and referred to his dispute with the Disney Group, to which he wants to restrict the self-governing status of Disney World after criticism of its "Don't say Gay" law. Trump is siding with Disney in the dispute, DeSantis said, without elaborating. "I stand for the parents, I stand for the children. And I think a multi-billion dollar company that sexualizes children is not in line with Florida values."

The criticism of a conjured up early sexualization is considered a classic tool of the right to delegitimize education about sexual diversity. DeSantis' attempt to mark his competitor as part of this alleged campaign fits in with his previous rhetoric: "I don't know how you get to pay hush money to a star to keep silent about an alleged affair," he said during an appearance in the spring, alluding to Trump's payment to actress Stormy Daniels. She had claimed that she had had sex with Trump.

Conversely, Trump and his supporters are also trying to brand DeSantis as morally depraved, using allusions that can be interpreted as sexual: Trump's supporters, for example, published a campaign ad that picked up on the rumor that DeSantis once ate chocolate pudding with his fingers in front of others. "Ron DeSantis loves to put his fingers where they don't belong," the 30-second clip reads.

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