DeSantis accuses political opponents of "smear" over weekend Neo-Nazi rallies

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis accused state Democrats of playing politics with the Neo-Nazi demonstrations over the weekend on Monday.

DeSantis had remained silent on the rallies over the weekend, which drew bipartisan condemnation from officials across the state, until he received a question about them at a press conference on Monday.

“So what I’m going to say is these people, these Democrats who are trying to use this as some type of political issue to try to smear me as if I had something to with do that, we’re not playing their game,” the governor told reporters.

He referred to the 20 or so demonstrators from two different rallies near the University of Central Florida as “some jackasses doing this on the street” and expressed confidence in law enforcement to hold them accountable.

But DeSantis accused Democrats who had targeted him for not denouncing the neo-Nazis over the weekend, as fellow Republican officeholders like U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (R) and state House Speaker Chris Sprowls had already done, as attempting to detract from the left's policy failures at the local and national level.

The Florida governor also touted his record combatting antisemitism, including signing what he described as "the strongest antisemitism bill” and “record funding for Jewish day schools.”

Neo-Nazis demonstrated in two places over the weekend. One group waved Nazi flags and shouted antisemitic slurs at passing cars near a shopping center in east Orange County on Saturday. Videos shows the demonstrators getting into at least one fight. Local authorities are investigating the scuffle but have not made any arrests.

Another group waved Nazi flags on an overpass on Interstate 4 on Sunday, which was “immediately disbanded” by the Florida Highway Patrol.

The incidents drew immediate condemnation from both Democrats and Republican public officials.

His concerns echoed those of his press secretary, Christina Pushaw, who issued a statement saying DeSantis “had always condemned hate” and “has taken an unequivocal and consistent stand against antisemitism throughout his entire political career.”

“It is simply ridiculous for anyone to suggest that the governor ‘tolerates extremists’ because he didn’t immediately take to Twitter on a Sunday to issue a formal condemnation of a specific group, which has nothing to do with him, the state government, or conservatism,” Pushaw wrote.

Pushaw received backlash over the weekend for a now-deleted tweet where she questioned the identity of the marchers, saying she was awaiting law enforcement to investigate. She cited the Lincoln Project hoax during the Virginia governor’s race where Democratic-aligned operatives posed as tiki torch-carrying white nationalists purporting to endorse Republican candidate and eventual winner Glenn Youngkin.