Popular progressives suggested on Twitter that DeSantis is similar to a dictator because of the praise he is receiving. David Rothkopf, columnist for Daily Beast, tweeted, “Anyone else noticing that Florida officials, sheriffs, etc. seem to start every statement with a formal tribute to governor DeSantis? Reminds me of something.” 
MSNBC national correspondent, Joy Reid, evidently agreed, quote tweeting Rothkopf’s post and adding an emoji.
Reid’s Twitter handle is “Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid.” But here she is retweeting a post implying that a democratically elected governor is a dictator. Classic leftist hypocrisy.
At this point in our declining public discourse, it is almost like a rule that every prominent rightwing politician must be compared to and characterized as a fascist, dictator, nazi, etc.
Of course, the left is aware that in sliming conservative pols, they’re insulting their supporters as well. If DeSantis is labeled as a racist, fascist, sadist dictator, that means his advocates are either immoral or imbecilic, or both.
This is awfully unfair to the millions of Floridians and Americans who are proponents of DeSantis’s policies, which are less authoritarian than many leftwing governors’. Nobody wants to acknowledge backing a figure whose views are beyond the pale, according to the mainstream media.It naturally has a chilling effect on speech. (It also hands liberals some nasty surprises on election day, since voters won’t admit their preferences to pollsters.)
It also helps heighten the already terrible tension and tribalism setting up a false and divisive good vs. evil dichotomy. The media should be responsible enough to know better than to use such rhetoric. Criticizing politicians should be commonplace, but designating them as demons is disgraceful. “DeSatan” is literally trending on Twitter today.
