Florida political science professor Michael McDonald was ridiculed on social media for arguing that Gov. Ron DeSantis has not faced national media scrutiny yet despite massive coverage of the Republican politician.
McDonald originally posted a lengthy thread on Wednesday explaining DeSantis’ successful re-election to a second term as governor in the midterm elections. Although DeSantis made historic gains in places such as Miami-Dade County, McDonald argued that the victory was largely due to low Democrat turnout and DeSantis not being tested nationally.
"Can DeSantis's political style continue to be successful once he is the focus of the harsh spotlight of the national media? We'll see..." McDonald tweeted.
Various Twitter users pushed back against the claim, reminding McDonald that DeSantis has been in the national media spotlight since his handling of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
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"Ron DeSantis - famous for not having come under the harsh spotlight of the national media," conservative Twitter personality Noam Blum joked.
"DeSantis snuck up on the media last night, a complete cipher the press has never heard of, according to this wizard," Townhall.com columnist Brad Slager tweeted.
The Daily Wire writer Virginia Kruta wrote, "Protests against @GovRonDeSantis' Parental Rights in Education law crossed international borders. He'll be fine."
Newsbusters media editor Bill D’Agostino commented, "You seem to be implying that they haven't attempted to take him down already. They've done so numerous times. The coven over on The View even tried to get the name ‘DeathSantis’ to stick when he refused to implement mask mandates."
"He has been the focus of harsh media spotlight since really 2020, and he just delivered a ~20 point victory last night," Washington Examiner columnist Becket Adams tweeted.
DeSantis Rapid Response Director Christina Pushaw commented on the tweet writing, "With all due respect, have you been living under a rock since March 2020?"
McDonald later responded to her tweet, claiming that it proved his point.
"As predicted, DeSantis cannot defend himself," McDonald wrote. "My point in this is that @ChristinaPushaw will have to let DeSantis defend himself against Trump. Maybe he will be effective. I don't know. But we will get to find out since the Republican base revels in trashing their opponents. She knows this as well as anyone."
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DeSantis has been frequently attacked and spotlighted by national media figures for his refusal to enact coronavirus mandates and his pursuit of conservative policies, such as the Parental Rights in Education bill.
Far-left media figures such as MSNBC’s Joy Reid have also smeared him as a White nationalist while others, like the women on "The View," have labeled him "DeathSantis."
In April 2021, CBS' "60 Minutes" in famously refused to retract a report that used deceptively edited video and claimed that DeSantis gave the Publix grocery store favorable preference in distribution of the coronavirus vaccine for campaign donations.
Most recently, the Washington Post was mocked for highlighting DeSantis' wedding in Disney World after the governor revoked the company's special privileges. A ProPublica journalist was also ridiculed for reporting on gossip about DeSantis' dating life in college.
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In the meantime, DeSantis has only become a more popular conservative figure in the Republican Party and in Florida and, after winning his re-election by almost 20 points, he is now considered a potential frontrunner for the 2024 presidential election.
