DeSantis Delivers GOP Talking Points in Florida State of State

(Bloomberg) -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis used his State of the State address Tuesday to hammer on the Republican Party’s key national themes, including immigration and critical race theory, further setting the stage for a potential run at the presidency in 2024.

Speaking from Tallahassee, DeSantis said the federal government’s immigration policy was tantamount to “a massive human smuggling operation” and pledged to keep tax dollars from being spent on critical race theory in schools, even though most grade school educators say it’s not part of their curriculum anyway.

He also celebrated his “free state” approach to the pandemic, a signature issue which has drawn the ire of Democrats and helped turn him into a national GOP figure. Florida, with one of the oldest and most vulnerable populations in the country, has the 16th most Covid-19 deaths per capita over the course of the pandemic, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

“In Florida, we have protected the right of our citizens to earn a living, provided our businesses with the ability to prosper, fought back against unconstitutional federal mandates and ensured our kids have the opportunity to thrive,” said DeSantis, 43.

The speech had all the trappings of a political address, echoing talking points from his hits on Fox News, where he’s become a frequent interviewee. Although he denies he’s thinking about it, DeSantis is widely-considered a top GOP candidate to seek the presidency in 2024, and his political action committee has filled its coffers with donations from big-name out-of-state donors, a sign of his growing influence in the party, as some Republicans see him as a more predictable option than Donald Trump.

But DeSantis needs to win the 2022 gubernatorial election in swing-state Florida, and his speech was in part a balancing act, drawing on local themes that command bipartisan support. It addressed the tragic condominium collapse last year in Surfside, and his plan to dramatically overhaul the state’s standardized testing system, a proposal with rare bipartisan support.

He even celebrated the state’s success at removing invasive Burmese pythons from the Everglades, drawing attention to the presence in the gallery of “python-king” Charlie Dachton, who personally caught and removed 41.

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