The Daily Beast's Katie Baker described Casey DeSantis, wife of Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., as a "Walmart Melania" in an op-ed published Sunday, taking issue with a leather jacket Florida's first lady wore during a campaign stop in Iowa.
DeSantis wore a leather jacket with an alligator and an outline of the state of Florida featuring the words, "Where woke goes to die," on the back.
"The First Lady of Florida showed up on the campaign trail in Iowa this weekend wearing a ghastly black leather jacket—American flag on front, an alligator and the silhouette of her state on the back, with the sneering words, ‘Where Woke Goes to Die’—that brought to mind nothing so much as the racks of a Red State big-bin store where it would be retailing for $24.99," Baker, an executive editor at the Daily Beast, wrote.
Baker compared it to former First Lady Melania Trump's "I really don't care" jacket, which she wore on a trip to migrant facilities in Texas.
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"Casey DeSantis’ coat is just like her husband Ron DeSantis’ campaign: Crude. Grasping. Saying the ugly part out loud," the op-ed continued. "DeSantis wants to peel off Trump’s base by being even more explicit about who he intends to target. You can see it right there on his wife’s jacket: DeSantis’ Florida is where the woke go to die—and a lot of other people die as well."
Politico published a story on DeSantis ahead of her husband's official campaign launch, describing her as "his greatest asset and his greatest liability."
"For some time now she’s been seen mostly and by many as an absolute superstar of a political spouse… For nearly as long, too, though, others who have worked with her or around her have nodded more quietly to the downsides of the starring part that she plays," Politico senior staff writer Michael Kruse wrote. "The DeSantis inner circle is too small and remains so, they say, not only because he constitutionally doesn’t trust people but because she doesn’t either. Especially forthright are the people who are granted anonymity on account of their fear of retribution given their power — not just his but hers."
Politico quoted ex-Republicans such as MSNBC contributor David Jolly, Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson and political strategist Mac Stipanovich.
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The outlet also referenced a Roger Stone quote that compared DeSantis to Lady Macbeth.
Baker claimed in her "fashion" op-ed that DeSantis was "falling far short" in attempting to draw from "Jackie Kennedy" or Melania Trump.
"We’ve got a Sunshine State Lady Macbeth, in her green cape and white gloves, with her middling husband and her thirst for the crown—and we’ve got a guy who wants to be sitting in a corner, mumbling about the Federalist Papers and gobbling pudding off his fingers," Baker continued.
Baker also claimed that neither Melania Trump or Casey DeSantis would never "embody the class and effortless elegance of Michelle Obama or Dr. Jill Biden."
"Those First Ladies have used fashion not as a punitive tool to stick it to political enemies—nor as a bored, nihilistic shrug—but as something generous and welcoming," she wrote.
