Florida Governor Ron DeSantis raised about 20 million dollars of donations for his Presidential campaign, which launched his bid in late May, but the former president is still leading the nomination from the Republican side for the 2024 White House run. The collected funding by the Governor came to light as the 2024 candidates for the Presidential race filed their financial disclosures for the second quarter of the year with the Federal Election Commission office. His funds didn’t touch the $35 million his rival, Donald Trump, reportedly collected in the same quarter.
The collection by the Florida Governor is a good amount despite the high level of criticism he has faced, and had been a controversial personality since he started his presidential bid in late May. On Wednesday, DeSantis appeared in a Podcast to discuss an online campaign video that some of his party members called homophobic. The cartoonist-style video was uploaded on the “Desantis War Room” Twitter account, which starts with Trump’s appearances in media and speeches he made addressing the issue of LGBTQ. Later parts of the video show pictures of the Governor doing some social work during his Governorship.
A video released by Ron DeSantis during Pride Month drew criticism for its perceived homophobic message, even from conservative groups like Log Cabin Republicans. They stated that such messaging could harm LGBTQ rights in upcoming elections. In Wednesday’s interview, DeSantis said the purpose of the video was to reveal the truths about Donald Trump “as really being a pioneer in injecting gender ideology into the mainstream.”
Source: Web
Governor Imposed New Restrictions on Immigrants
On Thursday, DeSantis faced criticism for a list released by his administration that outlines the driver’s licenses that are no longer acceptable in Florida. The announcement came after the suit of laws which stated enforcement from July 1, and it reportedly supports DeSantis’s right wing. The measure included two changes: removing the need for permits to carry concealed firearms and lifting restrictions on teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation in schools. But the press release on Thursday particularly highlighted the law which invalidates driver’s licenses out of Florida state operating within the state, which was issued to undocumented immigrants.
Some states like Vermont, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Connecticut issue driver’s licenses specifically for undocumented immigrants, which indicates that they are not to be used for Federal identification but only for driving purposes. Ron DeSantis has an aggressive stance regarding immigrants, and in his latest press release, he presented the driver’s license policy as a crackdown on illegal immigrants and as well as attacked President Biden for not controlling the border crisis.
Florida Governor made a statement that people living illegally in the country possess a government-issued ID, which allows them to avail of all the state-funded services which are meant to be only for taxpayers and lawful residents. Mexican government criticized the law saying the new policy could be used for racial profiling among motorists and other individuals. Mexican state also said criminalization is not the way to resolve the issue of immigrants and there should be a proper way out.
