Right wingers aren't even trying to hide their calls for violence.
In fact, recently Florida governor Ron DeSantis used a statement about
Anthony Fauci to promote violence toward him.
Keep in mind, Fauci just announced he's retiring.
So the fact that they're still turning Covid into a culture
war rallying cry blows the mind.
But nonetheless, here's what Ron DeSantis said during a Florida GOP rally.
>> You have people like Fauci saying that his lockdowns didn't cause any
permanent damage to any young kids.
I got news for you.
It did, and we are gonna reap those rewards across the whole country for
years and years and years because they treated kids so poorly, and
I'm just sick of seeing him.
I know he says he's gonna retire,
someone needs to grab that little elf and chuck him across the potomac.
>> [APPLAUSE] >> Chuck him across the potomac.
Okay, great.
The one thing that I really noticed from that video Jenk is how much Rhonda Santis
is practicing his Trump impression,
which makes me think he really is serious about running in 2024.
Because while he does seem to be gaining traction among Republican voters,
including individuals who previously said they would rather vote for
trump over anyone else.
Fact of the matter is up on that debate stage, the environment is very d
different, and if trump is running against you in the republican primary,
you have to keep in mind that he knows how to throw those jabs.
So, I just feel like that video was a pretty clear example of Ron DeSantis
like beefing up his violent rhetoric to kind of compete with trump in the future.
>> Yeah, so I took two things away from that video first of all.
Yeah, there's two different standards, right?
One for the right wing and one for the left wing.
Was that violent rhetoric?
Yeah, of course if the left had said it we've been a lot of trouble.
Like I imagine if I said somebody should take that Ron DeSanis and
throw them in a Goddamn River.
Wait that's terrible right?
But what are the right ones?
So he's kidding.
He called him a little life and he said over the river, right?
Now, if there was no context of right wing political violence,
I might even agree I might well come on.
There's nobody doing any political violence.
He called him an elf.
Get over it, right?
But wait a minute there is nonstop right wing political violence in the country.
Every time a right wing politician says something somebody goes to Washington runs
into a barricade below.
This blows themselves up comes in with a truck full of bombs
planted bombs at the RNC, the DNC.
Tries to kidnap the governor of Michigan and on and on and on.
And Trump constantly saying you better not raid mar a Lago or
otherwise the pressure is building.
And all this talk of civil war,
then in that context a guy who they've dropped up all this hatred towards, and
then he tells people to throw him over a river, somebody might take him up on it,
but there will never be accountability for the right way.
Never, okay?
So the second thing is what animation.
Look, Ron DeSantis is generally a pretty normal smarmy politician.
And but what he's basically doing is is so like the Marco Rubios
of the world would copy the old school standard politicians.
So he might try to copy Ronald Reagan in his mind,
things like that and seem standard and blah blah blah.
Now the new line of republican politicians are trying to copy Trump,
because they think Trump works, they're trying to copy populism.
So Ron DeSantis actually does not have much personality at all.
And he got famous originally by doing an ad where he was kissing
Trump's as he even used his baby to compliment Trump.
And then he now stands like Trump in a really weird away where he has his hands
out in front like Trump does like nobody else does.
And he's like, am I looking awkward enough like Trump?
And so and in this case what he's doing is,
it turns out voters love violent populist rhetoric.
So let me give them violent populist rhetoric.
So they'll think I'm a populist.
And if that gets copied over and over and over again,
it's a thing that works in the right wing which I'm afraid it does.
Then we'll have violent rhetoric all over the country from
normal politicians copying someone like Trump.
Yeah, no, you're absolutely right about that.
Look, on one hand, it's funny watching these milk toast politicians try to
model themselves after Trump because that's what the base wants.
But a bigger problem is that's what the base wants.
It's being reflected.
I mean, you mentioned Marco Rubio,
it's reflected in what we're seeing with Marco Rubio's approval ratings,
how he's performing in elections or in his re election campaign.
And it's because he's considered boring, right?
He's considered our so
called rhino because he's not constantly inciting violence.
He's not constantly attacking disenfranchised groups of people, which by
the way he does his fair share of that but it's not explicit enough for them.
And it's scary because the Republican Party just keeps moving further.
I don't even know further to the right is the correct way to describe it.
They're moving further.
You know, scary lunatic position and that is not something that I celebrate.
>> Yeah, one last thought on this.
Look, I think you might have said in the past Anna that if it's two DeSantis versus
Trump in an open primary, I think DeSantis is gonna get his ass handed to him.
Because someone trying to copy Trump versus the real deal, the original,
the original is gonna win.
I mean, if Trump is knocked out for some reason and doesn't run, okay,
then DeSantis has an excellent chance of winning.
But in a primary where here one of our members is already doing it,
weird al dragon vich rip off Ronnie stealing my hand gestures, rip off Ronnie.
>> Totally, yeah, and look- >> It's over, it's over.
>> The other thing is it's easy to pretend to be as vicious as Trump or
yeah, like say the same vicious things that Trump says.
But the one other thing that Trump has going for
him that I can't imagine Ron DeSantis ever replicating is that love him or
not hate him or not, Trump is kinda funny.
He knows how to entertain and
he knows how to mock people in a way that ends up getting laughs.
I don't think Ron DeSantis has that in him, I could be wrong, but
we're gonna find out.