Attendees call POLITICO story claims on DeSantis London event ‘false’
LONDON (FLV) – Some meeting attendees called claims in a POLITICO story about Gov. Ron DeSantis’ April event in London “false” and “definitely wrong.”
DeSantis wrapped up his international trade mission in the United Kingdom after making stops to Japan, South Korea and Israel.
Following the governor’s meeting with business leaders in the United Kingdom, POLITICO published a piece with anonymous sources describing DeSantis as “horrendous” and “low-wattage.”
However, some Florida business leaders and who attended the meeting said the opposite, characterizing the afternoon as having an “energetic crowd” that was “incredibly impressed” by the governor.
TJ Villamil, the senior vice president of the International Trade and Development unit at Enterprise Florida, said DeSantis showcased leadership at the lunch to attract investment to Florida.
“I was incredibly impressed with the governor’s stamina after a full week of travel,” Villamil said. “I am just absolutely floored by the governor’s commitment to making sure that Florida is the best place and the best brand to do business in front of our great partners around the world.
He called POLITICO’s sources “definitely off” and “wrong.”
“And the companies there that are willing to actually put their name and brand behind it can tell you otherwise than anonymous sources,” Villamil said.
Timothy Cerio, the president and CEO of Citizens Property Insurance Corp., told Florida’s Voice that the governor was very “engaged” at the lunch and during a breakout session with reinsurers.
“He was passionate about it. He talked about his commitment to keep on doing things to make the Florida market healthier and there was a very, very positive response,” Cerio said. “So I don’t know what meetings these anonymous sources were in, but the ones I was involved in, there was a very positive reaction.”
Cerio said the governor asked reinsurers from feedback about the reforms Florida lawmakers recently passed.
“And the feedback was extremely positive,” he explained. “So again, I don’t know what meeting these anonymous sources were in, but it certainly seems like there were folks with an agenda.”
An anonymous source for POLITICO’s article also claimed United Kingdom Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kimi Badenoch’s team “wanted to avoid talking about a Florida MoU.”
“Not true at all,” Villamil said as he explained that the governor’s office had been talking with the United Kingdom’s government about a Memorandum of Understanding for “quite some time.”
“And so it was definitely a point of discussion in the private meetings and Secretary Badenoch even brought it up in her presentation,” Villamil. “So clearly it was stated by someone that wasn’t even in the room at the time.”
A source close to Secretary Badenoch in the UK told Florida’s Voice the claim about a Memorandum of Understanding in POLITICO’s story is false. The source said they are discussing plans and agreed to follow up on the Memorandum of Understanding.
