Hatemongering Gov. Ron DeSantis has a dismal approval rate among Floridians and he’s probably a bit concerned about the polls. But to watch him on Fox News, you’d think he’s beloved.
FiveThirtyEight.com gives Republican DeSantis a 92% chance of winning re-election against former Governor and former Republican Charlie Crist. But Crist only won the nomination one week ago and a recent poll shows DeSantis’ five-point lead within the margin of error. On top of that, he has only a 37% approval rating.
But you’d never know any of that based on Dan Bongino’s softball interview with DeSantis over the weekend.
Bongino opened by playing the conservative victim card, in this case whining that Democrats are showing disgust for GOP voters. As if Bongino and his Fox colleagues ever show anything but disgust and seething hatred - or worse - for Democrats.. But even then, the clips that supposedly proved Bongino’s point were deceptively edited.
Bongino played a clip from New York Governor Kathy Hochul who, while campaigning, took jabs at Florida politics. "We're fighting to bring government back to the people, and out of the hands of dictators,” we saw her saying. Then, "Just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong." That was followed by, "You don't represent our values."
What she really said:
HOCHUL: We're fighting to bring government back to the people, and out of the hands of dictators. … Trump and Zeldin and Molinaro – just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong. OK? Get out of town. Because you don’t represent our values.
This appears to be her second swing at Florida politics while campaigning. At a Holocaust-education bill-signing, she thanked the state's 1.77 million Jews for: “calling New York home. Don’t go anywhere or to another state. Florida is overrated. I shouldn’t say this, but look at the governor. It starts at the top down.”
So, she was urging New Yorkers not to move to Florida and, at the same time, snarking that three Republicans: Donald Trump, her Trumper re-election opponent Lee Zeldin, and Republican Marc Molinaro are not real New Yorkers. She was obviously not saying that all Republicans should leave.
Bongino moved on to the second introductory clip: Crist, after his primary victory. “Those who support the governor [DeSantis] should stay with him and vote for him and I don’t want your vote. If you have that hate in your heart, keep it there,” he said.
Again, Fox cut the clip short. Here Crist’s full statement:
CRIST: Those who support the governor should stay with him and vote for him and I don’t want your vote. If you have that hate in your heart, keep it there. I want the vote of the people of Florida who care about our state: good Democrats, good Independents, good Republicans. Unify with this ticket, those who are haters: you’re gonna go off in your own world.
Bongino said that as a Republican, it’s hard for him to be objective but he told DeSantis, “I kid you not,” Crist is “maybe the worst candidate I have ever seen.”
“When his first comment out of the chute after winning the primary is, ‘listen we don't want your vote,’ this is quite a get-out-the-vote strategy, isn't it?” Bongino "asked" DeSantis.
With that softball, DeSantis was off and running with his pretense that he’s not an unpopular, hate-mongering authoritarian
DESANTIS: I mean it was really unbelievable that [Crist] would do that, and you know the thing is, is we've got so much support in Florida, and it's not because people have hate in their heart; they're thankful we saved their jobs. Mothers are thankful we kept their kids in school. Ah, you have senior citizens who are thankful we provided medication for ‘em. So, I think that he really put his foot in his mouth.
But I do think people like Hochul and Crist are representative of this leftist mindset, that they do believe that the conservative half of this country are effectively second-class citizens. And so, when she's telling all the Republicans to get on a bus and get out of New York – well, Dan, you know better than anyone - they'd lose the NYPD, they'd lose the FDNY, they'd lose guys at the Port Authority. These are the guys [just guys?], you know the good, strong conservative patriots, ahh, that keep New York totally from falling off the cliff. Even though she's trying to do that. So, I thought it was really offensive that she would say that.
Then the two "respecters" of others' opinions went off on Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Misrepresented facts, inaccurate responses. Fox News: “We lie, you listen.”
You can watch it below, from the August 27, 2022 Unfiltered with Dan Bongino.