Anti-DeSantis PAC's new ad mocked as unintentionally helpful to Florida governor
'DeSantis should buy airtime and run this ad himself'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A left-wing PAC's new ad attacking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, R., over his coronavirus leadership was roasted Thursday as an unintentional ad for moving to his state.
The ad from "Remove Ron" features a plane entering Florida's airspace as passengers are required to listen to DeSantis discuss COVID-19 policy, such as his opposition to vaccine passports, and how he won't force Floridians into lockdowns, mandates, and COVID restrictions.
Comparing the scene in Florida to the dystopia of "The Purge" movie franchise, the ad's narrator notes visitors don't have to get a vaccine or wear masks, and features fake headlines from made-up newspapers like "The Tampa Bay Terror Times."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Yet the ad's dark tone juxtaposed with DeSantis' rhetoric about trusting Floridians to make their own decisions regarding COVID-19 measures amused conservatives.
"This is one of the funniest things I've ever seen," National Review's Charles C. W. Cooke tweeted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I feel like I'm being punk'd and this is actually a pro-DeSantis ad," the New York Post's Karol Markowicz tweeted.
GOP strategist Matt Whitlock likened the ad to one from the left-wing Lincoln Project, known for its vitriolic, melodramatic ads that often failed to reach the voters it claimed to target but delighted liberal media members.
DeSantis has weathered fire from the Biden administration and mainstream media for his opposition to lockdowns and mask and vaccine mandates to combat the virus, while keeping the Florida economy largely open throughout the pandemic.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DeSantis' outspoken press secretary Christina Pushaw couldn't resist weighing in.
"What scares Very Online Liberals the most: The freedom to think for themselves," she tweeted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Florida ranks 20th among the 50 states in the percentage of fully vaccinated people, according to a New York Times tracker, while ranking 10th-highest in coronavirus deaths per capita.
Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, speaks during a news conference at a Regeneron monoclonal antibody clinic in Pembroke Pines, Florida, U.S., on Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021. Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images ( Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The state experienced a dramatic surge in COVID cases this summer amid the rise of the delta variant, but its cases and hospitalizations have dramatically fallen in the past two weeks, as it has across much of the south. DeSantis is widely viewed as a 2024 Republican presidential contender but has said he's focused on running for re-election in Florida next year.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Remove Ron" was started by left-wing attorney Daniel Uhlfelder, known online as the "Grim Reaper" who stalked Florida beaches last year in full costume to scold visitors. His antics were widely mocked due to the comparative lack of outdoor transmission of the virus.