British reporter travels to ‘authoritarian’ Florida: ‘Journey through Ron DeSantis’ magic kingdom’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin fired back at an Atlantic article from British reporter Helen Lewis, who traveled to Orlando, Florida to take a “journey through Ron DeSantis’ magic kingdom.”

“How did America’s weirdest, most freedom-obsessed state fall for an authoritarian governor?” the headline reads.

“DeSantis is a politician who preaches freedom while suspending elected officials who offend him, banning classroom discussions he doesn’t like, carrying out hostile takeovers of state universities, and obstructing the release of public records whenever he can,” Lewis wrote.

“Florida, a state that bills itself as the home of the ornery and the resistant, the obstinate and the can’t-be-trodden-on, the libertarian and the government-skeptic, has fallen for the most keenly authoritarian governor in the United States.”

The author said she toured across Florida, from Tallahassee to Disney World to South Florida.

“As Florida has become America, America has become more like Florida: older, more racially diverse but not necessarily more liberal, and more at risk from climate change,” she said.

On the governor, she said his speeches are “a recital of approved villains, lacking the chaos and danger that Donald Trump brings to his rallies.”

Griffin said the British reporter was sent to “ogle and mock” the Sunshine State.

“The article is dripping with the disdain and contempt that modern media hold for average people who reject the liberal elite’s vision of society (and Florida has overwhelmingly rejected it!),” he said.

Griffin posted screenshots of questions sent to him, which were loaded with pre-conceived conclusions about DeSants.

“It is a disservice to the public to dress up activism as journalism. Thanks to @GovRonDeSantis, we will keep calling it out. P.S. At least part of my response made it into the article,” he said.