Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis tries & fails to rewrite history by claiming he’s never “demeaned” gay people

Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis is accepting responsibility for his campaign’s virulently anti-gay video that drew widespread criticism across party lines.

In a recent interview with Fox News, the flailing presidential candidate defended the video as an attack against Donald Trump and his previous ambivalence about transgender issues.

At the same time, DeSantis also said he’s never demeaned anybody, including members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Could’ve fooled us!

“Those are the two issues, I think they’re totally legitimate,” he said. “I don’t believe in demeaning anybody, and we have not done that since I’ve been governor.”

DeSantis’ track record, of course, proves otherwise. As Florida governor, he’s prohibited classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender ideology among all grade levels, banned gender-affirming care for minors and made it illegal for transgender people to use the public bathroom that corresponds with their gender ideology.

As a presidential candidate, he’s leaned heavily into homophobia, with the aforementioned video representing just the tip of the iceberg.

DeSantis’ wife, Casey, has released an anti-gay ad of her own.

“These things get shared or whatever — and look, I’m responsible for it, don’t get me wrong,” said DeSantis on Fox News. “But the idea that I was sitting there like ‘oh, share this video,’ no, it was a rapid response thing.”

As the New York Times reported, DeSantis’ campaign made the repugnant ad and then passed it along to an anonymous Twitter user. On Monday, Semafor added more context to DeSantis’ incendiary video operation, reporting the meme-filled clips emerged from a Signal channel populated with members of his staff.

Last week, DeSantis fired a staffer who retweeted a video with Nazi imagery.

That checks out!

Lol, so DeSantis canceled somebody? He must be going woke.— Christopher Wiggins (@CWNewser) July 25, 2023

“guys, after checking the polls we’re gonna need to be 20% less openly nazi”— Brendon (@3662brendon) July 25, 2023

The whole campaign is staffed by people who are way too online. Or, more than that: they are way too online, and it does not occur to them that there is anything wrong with this.— C.A. Shoultz (@HarrierMagnus) July 26, 2023

DeSantis, who recently sat down for a brutal interview with Megyn Kelly, is trailing Trump by almost 40 points, according to a New York Times/Siena poll.

In fact, there isn’t a single coalition within the GOP that favors the gay-hating governor over the disgraced ex-president. From the NYT:

In the head-to-head matchup, Mr. Trump was far ahead of Mr. DeSantis among Republicans who accept transgender people as the gender they identify with, and among those who do not; among those who want to fight corporations that “promote woke left ideology,” and among those who prefer to stay out of what businesses do; among those who want to send more military and economic aid to Ukraine, and among those who do not; among those who want to keep Social Security and Medicare benefits as they are, and among those who want to take steps to reduce the budget deficit.

Tough break! DeSantis is so lost, even Caitlyn Jenner is hitting back at him.

In tacit acknowledgment of his failings, DeSantis recently fired staff members and reportedly “rebooted” his crappy campaign. But donors still aren’t happy.

Rolling Stone reports DeSantis’ financial backers still think he’s spending too much money on stupid members.

In an effort to dismiss allegations that he’s terminally online, DeSantis has recently been schmoozing with GOP voters at more traditional campaign venues.

So far, he’s chided a young girl for drinking an icee, and appeared miserable talking to people at every turn.

We wouldn’t expect anything less from a man whose personality was once compared to a “piece of paper.”

AWKWARD.— Matthew Longfellow (@Longfellow_TV) July 28, 2023

Weirdo— Kyle (@GodzillaKyle) July 27, 2023

He’s so bitter ! Lighten up buttercup— WINTER (@GenZWinterr) July 29, 2023

Do you think he’s actually drinking that beer or is it just a prop?— Crazy Fenak (@CrazyFenaker) July 30, 2023

DeSantis has the personality of a throw rug. A campaign “reboot” isn’t going to help!— Ramon Caudle (@UrbanistaRamon) July 29, 2023

I remember when Data had his first laugh— reignGod (@r3ignG0d) July 29, 2023

With the first Republican debate roughly three weeks away, DeSantis is running out of time to change the narrative around his futile presidential quest.

We’re not holding our breath…