Governor Ron DeSantis began his second four-year term on Tuesday, heralding Florida as a conservative blueprint for the rest of the country and subtly subtly expressing his long-rumored ambitions for the White House. It was shown to.
Speaking from the steps of the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee minutes after taking the oath of office, DeSantis, a Republican, didn’t directly mention the possibility of a 2024 presidential election. This suggested a contrast to former President Donald J. Trump from Florida, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
DeSantis, 44, criticized the “squirming federal agency” for “overeating and drinking” that “has undermined our country” without distinguishing between increases under Trump and Biden. In , he accused the federal government of “pandemic restrictions and mandates” that “eroded freedom and impeded commerce.” When Covid-19 first spread during Trump’s presidency, many restrictions were imposed.
DeSantis openly questions the science federal health officials use to encourage vaccination. And he fought Florida school districts, including Republican counties, to defy his executive order banning mask mandates in classrooms.
“We lead by deeds, not just words,” DeSantis said, calling the Republican-led state “a land of the free and a land of sanity.”
Governor Ron DeSantis and his Administration
When DeSantis read through a list of benchmarks during his first term, he repeated the same phrase, “We did it,” seven times in the first five minutes of his speech. He sought to take credit for the state’s economic success and population growth, and in November drew attention to Democratic former Congressman Charlie, who beat Christo by 19 points.
DeSantis has not announced whether he will run for president. In a debate during his re-election campaign, he refused to commit to fulfilling his four-year term.
On Tuesday, he promised a second-term agenda that would be more bent on the cultural warfare that brought Florida families “record tax cuts” and national attention, Republican support and Democrat criticism.
As governor, DeSantis has called for a ban on discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in the early grades and limits on what schools and employers teach about racism. For the first time in more than half a century, he has stripped Disney of its ability to govern itself, long the state’s unruly behemoth.
In his speech, DeSantis offered no specific new policies, pledging only to “enact more family-friendly policies” and to lead the fight for “freedom.”
In the audience was former Governor Jeb Bush, who lost the 2016 presidential election. Mr. Bush ran his first election as governor in 1998, ushering in the modern Republican era in Florida. Since then, Democrats have never recaptured Tallahassee’s Governor’s Mansion.
On a breezy, 72-degree day, Mr. DeSantis attended the swearing-in ceremony around 11:15 a.m. with his wife, Casey, 42, and their three children, Madison, 6. Mason, 4 years old. Mason buried her head in her mother’s pale green dress holding her Bible for her husband.
According to Sotheby’s, the Bible Mr. DeSantis used to take his oath of office was the Revolutionary Bible and the first complete English Bible printed in America. Conservative commentator Glenn Beck posted on Twitter that he lent the Bible to Mr. DeSantis for his inauguration.
