GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis paid a visit to California on Sunday — and took the chance to knock Gov. Gavin Newsom on the Democrat’s home turf.
DeSantis, who’s reportedly eying a run for the White House, ripped Newsom for his state’s recent population decline because the Sunshine State continues to realize residents.
“I knew you guys got a number of problems out here, but your governor may be very concerned about what we’re doing in Florida, so I figured I had to come back by,” DeSantis quipped as he began a speech he delivered on the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley to advertise his recent book, in line with Fox News.
The GOPer said the past 4 years have served as a litmus test for the country’s different political ideologies.
“And when you look over the past 4 years, we’ve witnessed an amazing American exodus from states governed by leftist politicians imposing leftist ideology and delivering poor results, and also you’ve seen massive gains in states like Florida, who’re governing in line with the tried and true principles that President Reagan held dear,” DeSantis said.
The Florida gov said times are changing for California, which saw people moving to the state from across the country throughout history. Now, he said, the alternative is true.
“From the start of this state’s history, all the way in which until the last 4 or five years, people beat a path to California,” he said. “You didn’t beat a path away from California. And yet now, you see the state hemorrhaging population.”
California’s population declined by greater than 500,000 people from April 2020 to July 2022, with many residents moving to other states, in line with US Census data.
The state’s lack of reasonably priced housing is partially guilty for the mass exodus, in line with experts and data.
DeSantis blamed Democrats corresponding to Newsom and their governance for the decline. Democratic states corresponding to Recent York, Illinois and Louisiana even have experienced population dips.
The Florida pol called California a “biomedical security state” due to its strict coronavirus pandemic restrictions, while Florida was rather more lax in requiring measures used to guard against the infectious virus.
People moved from the West Coast to Florida for the liberty it gave to residents in the course of the pandemic, DeSantis claimed.
“I can inform you, we had families move from the Pacific coast only for the proven fact that we had schools open in Florida once you didn’t have them open in lots of other states,” he said.
Florida also banned vaccine passports that required proof of vaccination to patron different businesses.
“We said that’s none of their business. Everyone has a right to take part in society,” DeSantis said. “That’s a private selection that you just make whether to take that or not, and we’re not going to allow you to be excluded.”
In consequence, the Republican said, Florida experienced a rise in visitors from other states.
“Now, what ended up happening because we did that, one among the things that ended up happening was in 2021, Florida set a record for domestic tourism,” he said. “In case you compare the change in tourism in California from 2019 to 2021, California tourism declined by 22%.”
DeSantis has repeatedly touted Florida as a blueprint for the remainder of America, arguing that his governing style has led the state to great success. He makes the argument in his recently released book “The Courage to Be Free,” which he was promoting on the California library.
But not all Americans consider DeSantis would steer the country in the fitting direction.
Ahead of his speech, critics of the Florida governor graffitied “Ron DeFascist” on the library’s entrance signs, police told the local station KTLA.
Library staffers were capable of scrub the message away before the event.
