For the left, the playbook never changes, and that’s especially true in this current era of squealing “racism” and “white supremacy” in response to everything.
During Donald Trump’s presidency, a favorite game among Democrats and their media allies was to constantly ask the former president to condemn white supremacy. It didn’t matter if he did so nine times. If he didn’t do it the tenth time they asked, that meant he was on the side of the neo-nazis.
Some on the right thought those attacks were unique to Trump and that the left wouldn’t have the capacity to smear other Republicans in such a fashion, but the rest of us knew how naive that was. Next man up would always get the same treatment and Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida.
A video showing what appeared to be eight neonazis from Orlando was posted online on Sunday. Democrats demanded DeSantis’ condemnation immediately.
This is unacceptable. This is unacceptable and disgusting. @GovRonDeSantis? It is time to condemn it! https://t.co/Re5I2wKKSs
— Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) January 30, 2022
Florida, a state with over 21,000,000 people, is an example. It is absurd to think that a governor in a state should schedule condemnations every time that a few morons are seen. That’s certainly not a standard that is applied to Democrats when it comes to Antifa violence (even though there is actually a political connection there), but the goal here isn’t to be intellectually consistent. Rather, it’s to paint Republicans as somehow personally responsible for every instance of prejudice that emerges, no matter how small.
There’s also an ongoing effort on the left to exaggerate the influence and effect of white supremacists, not because Democrats have genuine concerns, but because they find it to be politically useful. You see it in the Biden administration’s insistence that white supremacy is the biggest domestic threat in the country. It was evident in Donald Trump’s constant insistence on white supremacy being condemned despite having done so before.
But if you ask a Democrat to name the last white supremacist attack given the supposed prominence, they’ll probably mumble something about January 6th, which was not about white supremacy and did not take any lives (although, the police that responded did). Past that, they’d be left reaching back to 2018 to cite the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting.
The point is not to say that white supremacy 1) doesn’t exist and 2) doesn’t sometimes lead to violence. They are the real Neo-Nazis and the dirtiest people on the planet. Politics is almost the only reason they insist that they are America’s most dangerous threat. Further, the idea that Republican politicians must rush to “condemn” every neo-nazi who shows up in public is ludicrous and obviously a partisan ploy.
So what’s the best way to handle these kinds of smears? When DeSantis was asked Monday about this supposed controversy, he showed that he was aware enough to show it.
DeSantis said that they weren’t playing the game and called the demonstrators “jackasses.”
“I won’t be deceived by them.” @GovRonDeSantis says. “We are going to use our records in Florida and the things we have done to sign the most anti-Semitic bill in this country.” (2/2) @WFLA pic.twitter.com/sv73wqcKtn
— JB Biunno #HeyJB (@WFLAJB) January 31, 2022
Democrats are counting on Republicans refusing to fight back. Democrats expect that the knee will be bent and that a condemnation using their language be issued. But, playing that game is losing. DeSantis’ response, calling out the left’s anti-Semitism while at the same time forcefully describing the attacks on him for what they are is how it should be done.
White supremacy, in the final analysis is not an outcome of the Republican Party. In fact, historically, it’s an outgrowth of the Democrat Party. No GOP politician should accept the left’s false premise on the subject. DeSantis knows what to do and how to get it. It would be great if more Republicans could do this.
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