The Friday edition of PBS and CNN International’s Amanpour and Company could have selected anyone to profile Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as his name is increasingly floated as a possible 2024 presidential candidate. 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. I mean, he went to Yale, played baseball, like another former president, went to Harvard Law School, went into the Navy, served in Congress. He was always a very conservative member of Congress. 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.
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Amanpour and Company
4/29/2022
11:38 PM ET
MICHEL MARTIN: How would you describe where Ron DeSantis, kind of, sits in the sort of, the ecosystem of our national politics right now?
WILSON: Well, I mean, look, Ron DeSantis is the undisputed king of the culture war in America right now. He is attacking a number of axes in Florida, particularly. 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." As if you can just, like, lie to them and pretend they never happened.
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. So, all these things that have been happening for Ron DeSantis are built around one central premise. 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.
They believe the culture war -- correctly, by the way, that the only thing the Republican base cares about now is the culture war. 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. Again, maybe they weren't all evenly applied. But the principle of the Republican Party wasn't, let's burn down Walt Disney because we think that they're secretly trying to groom children for a pedophile ring and, you know, under the magic kingdom.
This craziness that has infected the party is very much what Ron DeSantis is running on in '22 and '24. 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? I mean, he has a very, sort of, classic profile for a political figure but. I mean, he went to Yale, played baseball—
WILSON: Went to Harvard.
MARTIN: -- like another former president, went to Harvard Law School, went into the Navy, served in Congress. He was always a very conservative member of Congress. But how do you think that this, sort of, fixation on this particular basket of issue started?
WILSON: Sure, well, I can tell you why. 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.
And — and she has become the most prominent adviser around him. She directs every strategic decision inside the administration now. 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, decent accomplishments, decent educational background, you know, limited government constitutional conservative on paper.
Once Pushaw came into his orbit, he transformed into this alt-right trolling culture warrior of the first degree. 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. It's given him, you know, something like 75 hits on Fox News in the last year. It's given him this enormous central prominence as the -- as a person that Trump fears the most who will run against him in '24.
