Last weekend, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was the featured speaker at a conservative event in Carlsbad to stump for New Mexico GOP gubernatorial candidate Mark Ronchetti and U.S. Representative Yvette Herrell.
The Florida Governor spoke for 40 minutes to a crowd of about 1,000, and as expected, attacked “woke ideology,” slammed vaccine mandates, critical race theory, and transgender medical treatment for children. He showcased his own sunshine state as governing in accordance with basic “American values” and “common sense,” characterizing Florida as a “promised land for so many people throughout the country.”
After blubbering about how wonderful Florida is, DeSantis slammed our current Governor by claiming her executive orders during the pandemic had hurt school children by shutting down in-person schooling and businesses and had infringed on individual “rights” by requiring vaccinations for government employees.
DeSantis regurgitated far-right rhetoric that has made him a front-runner with the MAGA crowd, and by inviting him to New Mexico, Ronchetti and Herrell demonstrate that they stand in solidarity with his extreme record.
DeSantis has quite the extreme record, from his approval of increased abortion restrictions, requiring that schools teach that communism is evil, eliminating Black congressional districts creating an elections “police force,” and outright attacking Disney corporation for its opposition to the “Don’t Say Gay bill.” At another rally the same weekend for two GOP nominees in Arizona, DeSantis denounced the FBI for its search of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property. He criticized the search by suggesting the FBI was taking action against people who were “opposed to the regime,” questioning why the FBI failed to execute a search warrant against Hillary Clinton in 2016 “when she had a rogue server.”
Why did Ronchetti bring DeSantis to New Mexico to spew more MAGA-filled speak overflowing with anti-government and pro-Trump rhetoric? Does Ronchetti want to model New Mexico after Florida and enact a homophobic “Don’t Say Gay” bill, sign into law an extreme abortion ban that makes no exceptions for rape or incest, demonize Democrats, and deny the role that oil and gas have climate change?
Perhaps by inviting the legendary MAGA governor to Carlsbad, Ronchetti and Herrell may have boosted both their campaigns among conservatives and Trump supporters, it is clear that in doing so, they must share his right-wing views on abortion, the FBI, climate change, race, the LGBTQ community, and public education.
In closing, here are a few facts about Ronchetti: He refuses to denounce far-right fringe groups, he supports banning a woman’s right to choose, and if elected, would pass policies that punish doctors who provide abortion care. He is also a climate-change denier, and has stated that “climate change doesn’t cause fires,” and if elected governor, would allocate tax dollars for private schools, and remove the Opportunity Scholarship program which provides tuition-free education to New Mexico students.
New Mexico is culturally diverse, which gives our state its strength. Do we really want to elect an inexperienced weatherman who marches in line with MAGA elites like Ron DeSantis?