It is an incontrovertible fact that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is awful. Like, the worst. But would it surprise you to learn that his wife is also awful?
On Dec. 8, Casey DeSantis reposted a video that, according to the New Civil Rights Movement, had first seen the light of day over the summer, but didn’t gain much traction. The video, called “Mamas for DeSantis,” is 2 minutes and 29 seconds of fear-mongering focusing on how the nation’s COVID-19 response and LGBTQ+ people are a threat to children. It’s pure right-wing nightmare fuel.
I don’t recommend watching it. I, for one, am sick of being accused of being a danger to children. Even though I know I am, in fact, not a danger to children and that I’m a damn good mom, it still feels pretty bad!
The video begins with Casey’s voice-over saying, “In America, we’ve witnessed a lot and put up with enough” alongside images of transgender athletes, the words “Schools Closed,” a child having a face mask yanked onto their face, and a photo of what looks like kids interacting with people in leather dog masks, maybe at a Pride parade.
Then there is what looks like cell phone footage of a woman being arrested on a playground while someone yells at the cops, “Her children are here!” I don’t know or care what that is about. It’s interesting, however, that the same conservatives who wave “blue lives matter” flags also use this kind of footage to imply that in a not-so-distant future, the police might be able to arrest people for no reason at all, and not just Black people. Even white ladies will have to fear police overreach in Biden’s America!
“We’ve been forced into silence,” Casey continues over footage of a child in the arms of a woman on an airplane crying, presumably because the child has to wear a mask, though one could argue that air travel absolutely sucks and can be really hard on kids. Then there’s a shot of a preschooler being told to keep his mask on and being upset about it. Then there’s a shot of — dun! dun! dun! — Dr. Anthony Fauci as the words “trust the science” flash across the screen.
“We’ve been told we must deny truth, back down and look the other way,” Casey continues. Again we see the transgender athlete footage and the dog masks which transitions into what looks like old footage of a Pride parade with people chanting, “We’re coming for your children.”
“Enough is enough!” Casey cries. “There’s nothing we won’t do to protect our children. They’re NOT yours.” Cut to a clip of President Biden saying, “Our nation’s children are all our children,” because caring about other people’s children is socialist or something. A true encapsulation of the Republican character: I’ve got mine, fuck everybody else. No sense of shared responsibility at all.
“We will not allow you to exploit their innocence to advance your agenda,” Casey warns the gays and the scientists.
“We are united,” Casey continues. “And we have finally found our fighter.” Cut to a shot of Donald Trump.
Haha. Just kidding. It’s Ron DeSantis, a man who has done everything he can to turn Florida into the worst state in America. This ad promises he’ll destroy the entire country, too.
There’s a clip of DeSantis saying, “We’re not going to let you impose an agenda on our kids. We’re going to stand up for our kids.”
Never mind that “our kids” apparently doesn’t include LGBTQ+ kids (“Don’t Say Gay,” anyone?) or Black kids. “Critical race theory: PROHIBITED,” the video brags. “DEI: stopped!”
DEI, of course, stands for “diversity, equity and inclusion.” These are dirty words to conservatives. Which is really pathetic and sad.
The video also claims to have banned “child mutilation” (which is not, in fact, legal anywhere, but what this ad is calling “mutilation” is actually gender-affirming care), and to have “saved” girls sports (which, you guessed it, means banning trans athletes).
This is all, of course, an agenda. One that uplifts white, Christian, heterosexual, cisgender kids at the expense of every kid who doesn’t fit into those categories. As a result, it hurts everyone by positioning any kind of difference as a threat.
DeSantis will not be the Republican presidential nominee unless something really wild happens. But whoever wins — whether it’s Trump, or Nicki Haley, or Trump — know that they agree with everything in this video. Everything besides the claim that DeSantis should be president. DeSantis sucks. That’s at least one thing we can all agree on.