Florida House Democrats: DeSantis ‘Not Speaking to the People’ in Inaugural Speech

Published Jan. 3, 2023, 2:04 p.m. ET | Updated Jan. 3, 2023

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TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – Florida House Democrats slammed Gov. Ron DeSantis’ inaugural speech and claimed he directed it only to “GOP primary voters” and wasn’t “speaking to the people.”

“This is probably the first Florida governor to give an inaugural speech not speaking to the people of our great state and the challenges we all face, but directed at GOP primary voters and billionaire donors,” Democrat state Rep. Fentrice Driskell said.

Driskell said DeSantis “wants to distract from his own failed record” and “doesn’t really address real issues.”

“Any time he wants to distract from his own failed record, he creates a new fake “woke” boogeyman to battle but doesn’t really address real issues Floridians are struggling with like housing affordability and health care that doesn’t bankrupt families,” Driskell said.

Recently, The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) highlighted its 2022 accomplishments.

“While I am proud of all we have accomplished in 2022, I am confident it is only getting started. Under Governor DeSantis, the agency will continue to strengthen Florida’s health care system by prioritizing Florida’s seniors and most vulnerable, protecting Florida’s children and youth, ensuring resources are available for our health care providers, and continuing to look for opportunities to increase the quality of care for all Floridians,” AHCA Secretary Simone Marstiller said.

The agency noted DeSantis’ vision for Florida’s healthcare system to be cost-effective, transparent and of high quality.

“He speaks of freedom but that’s not what his track record shows. It only took him only a few lines into his speech to begin rewriting the history of his COVID response,” Driskell said.

Florida’s rent prices have skyrocketed and Dr. Shelton Weeks, a Lucas Professor of Real Estate at Florida Gulf Coast University, said inflation and migration play a large role.

“The way that we handled COVID in Florida I think sent a signal to the rest of the country that many people saw as very favorable, whereas, some other states in areas maybe handled things very different,” Shelton explained. “And folks vote with their feet.”

“When the world lost its mind, when common sense suddenly became an uncommon virtue, Florida was a refuge of sanity, a citadel of freedom for our fellow Americans and even for people around the world,” DeSantis said regarding the COVID-19 lockdowns.

“He brags about our state’s success without mentioning the record funding that came from the Biden Administration to stabilize our economy,” Driskell said.

Inflation under Joe Biden has reached record highs, along with gas prices.

DeSantis’ Press Secretary Bryan Griffin listed off large issues faced by the U.S. since Biden’s inauguration in 2021, including inflation, gas prices, and big tech “collusion & censorship.” Griffin said the Biden Administration prioritizes things like “climate reparations,” “your $600 Venmo transaction,” “defending child sex changes,” and “mandating booster shots.”

Driskell said DeSantis “proudly pushes an extremist NRA-backed Unregulated Carry” and that his goal to pass Constitutional Carry in Florida is “not a smart plan.”

“He claims to support law enforcement and ‘law & order’ yet he proudly pushes an extremist NRA-backed Unregulated Carry that will mean thousands of hidden guns being carried by unlicensed people across the state. What could be more ‘soft on crime’ than making it easier for criminals to carry guns on our streets? We should never confuse ‘soft on crime’ with ‘smart on crime,’ and this is not a smart plan,” Driskell said.

Democrat state Rep. Kelly Skidmore said Democratic members of the Florida House were present at the inauguration to “remind” DeSantis that the state government is “not a factory of red meat catch phrases designed to agitate.”

“We are here to remind the governor that our state government is a democracy with checks and balances, not a factory of red meat catch phrases designed to agitate,” Skidmore said.

“He covered no new ground, and offered no solutions to problems Floridians face. If he plans to run for president, he certainly needs a new speechwriter,” she continued.

Democrat state Rep. Anna Eskamani called the governor’s speech “boring” and said he only had “MAGA talking points and buzz words.”

“The governor’s inaugural speech was incredibly boring and contained no new ideas, just MAGA talking points and buzz words. The only line that got a major applause was ‘Florida is where woke goes to die’ which is a line Governor DeSantis has used before,” Eskamani said.

“No actual issues that every day families deal with — like housing affordability — were even mentioned, and the governor once more avoided talking about abortion and reproductive rights. There was no vision, or commitment to solve problems. Based on what he did say, we can assume more culture wars are to come this legislative session,” she continued.

Democrat state Rep. Ashley Grant said DeSantis’ comments that “freedom lives” in Florida were “starkly juxtaposed.”

“The remarks made by the governor, namely stating that “freedom lives in the State of Florida”, is starkly juxtaposed to his stance on teaching the truth about our country in silencing the truth about Black history and stripping bodily autonomy and sovereignty from women. That’s not freedom,” Grant said.

Democrat state Rep. Lindsay Cross said “The results are clear – Florida’s water is dirtier and sicker than when Gov. DeSantis first took office.”

Democrat state Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis said the governor’s speech was an “aggressive attack on immigrants and other marginalized communities” and said it was “just another example of the governor stepping out on Florida and courting the nation for higher office.”

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