The Friday edition of PBS and CNN International’s Amanpour and Company Could have chosen anyone to profile Florida Governor. His name has been increasingly mentioned as an option for the 2024 presidential race. But, instead of picking DeSantis himself or someone close to him, NPR’s Michel Martin chose Lincoln Project bomb thrower Rick Wilson, who labeled both DeSantis and press secretary Christina Pushaw as “alt-right” culture warriors.
Martin was confused where DeSantis’s beliefs come from, considering he has an impressive resume that doesn’t suggest right-wing crazy person, “I mean, he has a very, sort of, classic profile for a political figure but. You see, he was a Yale graduate, played baseball just like an ex-president, and then enrolled at Harvard Law School. He also went on to the Navy. His views were always conservative. But how do you think that this, sort of, fixation on this particular basket of issue started?”
Wilson claimed the answer lies in Pushaw being some sort of alt-right troll and puppet master, “He is surrounded by a small cadre of very ambitious advisers. And the chief among those advisers, who dominates every bit of his thinking now, is a woman named Christina Pushaw who comes from this very alt-right background, who comes from this background where the trolling and the social war stuff is the only thing that matters.”
Pushaw has taken DeSantis who “was fairly generic” and caused him to be “transformed into this alt-right trolling culture warrior of the first degree.” Wilson then claimed, without any evidence that DeSantis’s other advisors resent this, but DeSantis keeps her around because of 2024 ambitions.
It wasn’t the first time Wilson accused DeSantis of doing what he has solely because of future plans. Earlier he labeled DeSantis “the undisputed king of the culture war” and declared that removing Disney’s special tax status was equal to “seeking to destroy them.”
He also mispresented the state’s anti-Critical Race Theory law, “As if you can just, like, lie to them and pretend [slavery and racism] never happened.”
Finally, he attacked DeSantis from the left on abortion, which makes one wonder what he was doing when he advised Republican campaigns, “And finally, his last act in this sort of culture war trifecta he’s doing is he’s passing one of the most restrictive abortion bills in the country. Restricting abortion at 15 weeks with, you know, the usual — the usual new play of no exemptions for rape, incest, life of the mother.”
In a segment full of burned straw men and personal attacks, Wilson claimed, once again with no evidence, that, “He is not doing this because he believes these things as a governor. He’s doing it because he and his advisers have decided that this is the path to the 2024 nomination for president.”
If Wilson, PBS, and CNN think that not teaching little kids about gender theory is “alt-right” then they are doing more to mainstream it then anyone actually on the alt-right could ever dream of.
You sponsored this segment.
PBS Amanpour and Company
4/29/2022
11.38 pm ET
MICHEL MARTIN – How would you describe Ron DeSantis’s position in relation to the current ecosystem of national politics?
WILSON: Ron DeSantis, the undisputed king in the culture wars of America, is what I’m referring to. Particularly, he is attacking many axes in Florida. He’s—he’s– is accusing Disney of being a company dedicated to pedophile grooming and seeking to destroy them. He is setting up a system in Florida where—where– people who believe that Critical Race Theory, the imaginary demon of their — is being taught in classrooms and will allow people to while people to sue teachers and schools that, quote/unquote, you know, “Make people feel uncomfortable for talking about slavery or racism in America.” You can lie to them, pretending they have never occurred.
Finally, he is passing the nation’s most restrictive abortion bill. Restricting abortion at 15 weeks. This is in addition to the normal — no exemptions or exceptions for rape and incest. These are all examples of Ron DeSantis’ central thesis. These are not things he does because he is a governor. It’s because he, his advisors and a path to the nomination of President in 2024 has been chosen.
Correctly, they believe in the culture warfare. All the other ideological predicates of the past of what, you know, when—when– folks like me were working inside the party and doing campaigns from—from– president down to dogcatcher, there was a sort of — whether you agree with it or not, a sort of coherent ideological idea: limited government, individual liberty, free markets, the world law. They weren’t necessarily all equally applied. However, the Republican Party principle was, let’s burn down Walt Disney, because they think that they are secretly trying, to groom children for the pedophile ring, and under the magic kingdom.
Ron DeSantis’s campaign in ’22/’24 is based on this craziness. And—and– very much what motivates the Republican base in this day and age.
MARTIN: What do you think this—this—this– came from with Ron DeSantis? He has an incredibly, kind of classic, profile as a politician, but. I mean, he went to Yale, played baseball—
WILSON: Went Harvard.
MARTIN — He, like another ex-president, attended Harvard Law School and went on to the Navy. After serving in Congress, he was promoted to the rank of Major. He was a conservative member of Congress. How do you believe this sort of fixation started?
WILSON A small group of highly ambitious advisors surround him. Christina Pushaw, a woman from the alt-right, comes from a background that emphasizes trolling and social war. She is his chief adviser.
And—and– she has become the most prominent adviser around him. She now directs the strategic direction of every administration decision. And—and– as she gained power, he shifted from being that, sort of, traditional Tea Party-ish Republican, who was fairly generic in almost every way. You know what? He has decent achievements, decent education, and is a limited-government constitutional conservative.
Pushaw became an alt-right trolling cultural warrior in the first degree after he was introduced to his group. And it is — you know, in Tallahassee and among his many advisers, there’s been a little grumbling about it but no one—no one– can take her out of that role because he views her position as being so vital because it’s raised him $100 million from small door donors. You know it’s brought him 75 hits in just the last year on Fox News. He’s been able to claim this huge central position as Trump’s most fearful opponent in the upcoming ’24 election.
About Post Author
