A member of the press on Sunday trotted out the usual tactic of using Nazis to smear Republicans and conservatives during an interview with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Unfortunately for her, the strategy fell woefully flat.
Kristen Welker, the moderator of NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, interviewed DeSantis regarding a number of topics. The discussion included comments made by Florida legislator Randy Fine, who is the only Jewish Republican member of the Florida state legislature.
In a recent op-ed, he criticized DeSantis for not taking a stronger stance to combat neo-Nazi activities in Florida. He stated in his op-ed that he was switching from DeSantis’ support to the former president Donald Trump who currently leads the other candidates by a large margin.
Welker raised the issue and claimed that DeSantis “had not been nearly as vocal” in his opposition to neo-Nazi harassment and attacks on your state, as he had in his opposition to what he believed was Hamas’ support.
DeSantis replied, saying Fine was “just trying his 15 minutes fame” and remembered how he “sang my praises two months ago.”
The Governor went on to praise his actions following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, and his overall support for Israel.
We have acted quickly and decisively. After this attack, for example, we sent state law enforcement to work in conjunction with the locals to safeguard our Jewish institutions. There were arrests made of people who threatened to harm our Jewish community. From anti-BDS laws to financial support for security, we have some of the strongest laws in the nation.
DeSantis noted that Florida had “probably the largest migration of Jewish residents”. He challenged Welker, to “name another governor who scrambled flights to Israel” in order to bring Americans trapped in the Middle East back after the war began. He said, “We’re proud to have rescued almost 700 people and are leading the way in this area.”
Welker redoubled his efforts, noting Florida Republican Senators. Marco Rubio, Rick Scott, and others condemned the neo-Nazi protests in Florida earlier this year. She asked, “Why didn’t speak up?” Why didn’t speak up and say you won’t stand for it?
“Of course, we condemn this.” DeSantis started to respond, “Just look at all that we’ve been doing in terms of policies,” before Welker interrupted him: “But you did not at the time Governor.” Randy Fine says that you didn’t do it at the time. Randy Fine says that you didn’t at the time.
The governor replied again saying that Welker shouldn’t “give someone 5 minutes of fame, because they are letting you do a preferred story just to hit me.”
DeSantis said, “Our record on these issues is second to no one and we will continue to be leaders in this area.”
NBC’s Kirsten Welker tries to use Nazis to smear Ron DeSantis.
This did not go well for her. pic.twitter.com/QwW46k4ekZ
— Jeff Charles, An Awful Pundit🏴 (@jeffcharlesjr) October 29, 2023
Two competing narratives collided in this exchange. Welker, Fine, and others suggest that DeSantis is not doing enough to combat antisemitism. Welker implied that DeSantis was not concerned about Nazi activity in Florida. DeSantis and his supporters would say that his actions speak louder than words and his record proves this.
DeSantis is not ambivalent or supportive of neo-Nazis, despite what Welker and Fine claim. This was a failed “gotcha,” attempt to weaponize racist idiots against a Republican. DeSantis has a long history of supporting the Jewish community.
DeSantis, would it have been better to condemn Nazis from a political standpoint? Sure. It’s not a bad idea to slap around racists and other bigots. As I said before, actions are much more powerful than words. In fact, those on the extreme left who claim loudly to be against bigotry do their best to make the situation worse. This appears to be a cynical attempt to portray someone as a racist. Welker’s attempt was as ineffective as trying to pull a large truck with a yoyo.
