{"id":1671203,"date":"2022-10-04T06:47:54","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T10:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1671203"},"modified":"2022-10-04T06:50:21","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T10:50:21","slug":"the-katrinafication-of-ron-desantis-has-begun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-katrinafication-of-ron-desantis-has-begun\/","title":{"rendered":"The Katrinafication Of Ron DeSantis Has Begun"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-katrinafication-of-ron-desantis-has-begun%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1671203&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Hurricane Ian pummeled Florida last week as a category 4 storm, one of the most powerful to ever make landfall in the United States. And not more than a week later \u2014 right on schedule \u2014 the state\u2019s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis remains confronted with a hostile press that\u2019s eager to turn the governor\u2019s political ambitions into <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Vikeologist\/status\/1575511703143550976?s=20&amp;t=KO8oBSqGadKYQyUzi86bIg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fort Myers Beach<\/a>: once a sunny paradise and now a tropical wasteland. <\/p>\n<p>As traumatized residents survey the damage and prepare to rebuild from what the governor <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/energy-environment\/3666760-desantis-says-ian-was-basically-a-500-year-flood-event\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">described <\/a>as a \u201c500-year flood event,\u201d swaths of the state remain <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjuq_ey_sT6AhXQADQIHRESBOcQvOMEKAB6BAgDEAE&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesh.com%2Farticle%2Fflooding-continues-across-central-florida%2F41480555&amp;usg=AOvVaw0dF9tnyHQenHv3SeVGIkeD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">underwater <\/a>and without power. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/weather-news\/hurricane-ian-power-tracker\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">According<\/a> to Fox Weather, more than 600,000 Floridians are still without electricity after the storm ripped across the peninsula.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re looking at a storm that changed the character of our state,\u201d DeSantis said at a Thursday press conference. <\/p>\n<p>So naturally, DeSantis, who is rivaling Donald Trump in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/epolls\/2024\/president\/us\/2024_republican_presidential_nomination-7548.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">every poll<\/a> for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is a prime target for media partisans who are exploiting the tragedy and going on the attack. <\/p>\n<h2>Katrina Floods Louisiana, Drowns Bush Presidency<\/h2>\n<p>In 2005, President George W. Bush became the subject of criticism over the federal government\u2019s response to Hurricane Katrina, a category 3 storm that killed more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.history.com\/news\/hurricane-katrina-facts-legacy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1,800 <\/a>people, left millions more homeless, and flooded New Orleans for weeks. Four days after landfall, rapper Kanye West <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9pVTrnxCZaQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">castigated <\/a>the president as a racist in an interview alongside actor Mike Myers on NBC. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cGeorge Bush doesn\u2019t care about black people,\u201d West said. <\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s plenty of criticism to be made of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/blog\/hurricane-katrina-remembering-federal-failures\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">federal response<\/a> to the Gulf hurricane. Government agencies were unorganized and unprepared, communication broke down, and coordination between state and federal officials led to indecisiveness when there was no time to waste. The accusation that Bush led an inadequate effort out of racism, however, was as unhinged as it was unfair, yet it marked the beginning of the end of his presidency, which later became embroiled in ongoing wars in the Middle East and the 2008 financial crisis. Bush\u2019s approval rating began <a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/116500\/presidential-approval-ratings-george-bush.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dropping<\/a>, and he never fully recovered.<\/p>\n<p>Five years later, Bush would <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/president-bushs-memoir-recalls-worst-moments\/story?id=12051978\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reflect <\/a>on Katrina as one of the \u201clowest\u201d points in his presidency and write in his White House memoir of being \u201cdisgusted\u201d by West\u2019s racist smear. <\/p>\n<h2>DeSantis\u2019s Katrina Moment<\/h2>\n<p>Florida faced its most destructive storm <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/environment\/2022\/oct\/03\/hurricane-ian-cost-death-toll-florida\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in decades <\/a>under DeSantis\u2019s tenure one month before the governor\u2019s re-election is set to be a springboard for a competitive presidential campaign. <\/p>\n<p>On Monday, DeSantis\u2019s opponents in the press launched efforts to make Hurricane Ian the governor\u2019s Hurricane Katrina, thwarting momentum for a White House run and potentially derailing a second term as Florida\u2019s chief executive. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/epolls\/2022\/governor\/fl\/florida_governor_desantis_vs_crist-7324.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">According <\/a>to RealClearPolitics\u2019 latest aggregate of polls, which often inflate Democrat support, DeSantis has led in every single survey  this year except for one. A single summer <a href=\"https:\/\/floridapolitics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/StPetePolls_2021_State_August3_P7F9W.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">poll <\/a>conducted Aug. 2-3 reported DeSantis\u2019s Democratic challenger, Charlie Crist, up by 1 point and well within the survey\u2019s 1.6 percent margin of error. <\/p>\n<p>Now it\u2019s no longer the president being scrutinized by the corporate press. It\u2019s the Florida governor. <\/p>\n<p>Amid rapid rescue efforts and urgent storm repairs, CNN <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/desantis-points-media-tampa-questioned-cnn-lee-countys-late-evacuation-order\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">challenged <\/a>DeSantis Sunday on why the hurricane hit Fort Myers over Tampa. Lee County \u2014 where Fort Myers is located, more than 100 miles south of St. Petersburg, which was the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/09\/27\/1125270250\/hurricane-ian-evacuation-st-petersburg-tampa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">forecasted <\/a>target of the hurricane\u2019s landfall \u2014 did not order residents to evacuate as did neighboring jurisdictions.  <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy do you stand behind Lee County\u2019s decision to not have that mandatory evacuation until the day before the storm?\u201d pressed CNN\u2019s Nadia Romero. <\/p>\n<p>DeSantis answered the question with a question. \u201cWhere was your industry stationed when the storm hit?\u201d DeSantis quipped. \u201cWere you guys in Lee County? No, you were in Tampa.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The governor broke down the storm\u2019s forecast, which initially placed cities further up the coast in the hurricane\u2019s worst path of destruction. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had most of our supplies stationed in the Tampa Bay area. As that track moved, we shifted our response further south as well,\u201d DeSantis added. <\/p>\n<p>One day prior, the governor <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/10\/02\/ron-desantis-defends-lee-countys-late-evacuation-order\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explained <\/a>at a press conference why evacuation orders in the surrounding areas came later than in other parts of the state as the weather forecast changed. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey were following the data, and you remember people were looking initially at the panhandle on Sunday,\u201d DeSantis said. <\/p>\n<p>Drudge Report linked to the New York Post\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/10\/02\/ron-desantis-defends-lee-countys-late-evacuation-order\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">coverage <\/a>of the governor\u2019s explanation as if DeSantis were on defense and confronting a scandal. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDeSantis defends late evacuation order,\u201d read the news aggregator. <\/p>\n<p>Fabricated evacuation drama aside, Politico <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/10\/03\/desantis-federal-relief-cash-fund-priorities-00060020\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">published <\/a>a hit piece on Monday afternoon that lambasted the governor for reaching into \u201cthe president\u2019s wallet,\u201d as if American tax dollars were the sole property of President Joe Biden. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><\/figure>\n<p>The 1,000-word article by Politico\u2019s Max Dixon reads as if it were written by a Democratic operative with aggressive demands that DeSantis pay tribute to the president at every opportunity. <\/p>\n<p>Dixon condemned the governor\u2019s use of federal funds to set aside $12 million for migrant flights to sanctuary cities, never mind that a near <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/majority-floridians-support-migrant-flights-cape-cod-poll\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">majority <\/a>of constituents support the effort. Dixon also criticized the governor\u2019s opposition to federal aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, never mind that the funding bill was \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2017\/08\/31\/sandy-relief-bill-chock-full-pork\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chock full of pork<\/a>\u201d that had nothing to do with immediate storm relief. <\/p>\n<p>And Dixon complained that the governor gave police officers $1,000 bonuses financed by federal dollars without \u201cmention[ing] the connection to the president.\u201d Never mind that DeSantis consistently <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/03\/03\/desantis-democrats-are-looting-the-treasury-to-pour-money-into-their-bankrupt-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">denounced<\/a> blue state bailouts, where billions of dollars were poured in to save the economies of locked-down jurisdictions at the expense of free-state taxpayers such as Floridians. Was DeSantis expected to forfeit his state\u2019s share of federal tax dollars that his own residents were forced to shell out in the first place?<\/p>\n<p>The performance of any government official ought to be scrutinized in the aftermath of a major natural disaster, especially one as big as Hurricane Ian. After all, competent leadership can be the difference between a death toll of a few dozen and one of 1,800. The attempts to fabricate scandal so far around DeSantis, however, are as unfair as smearing Bush as a racist amid recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina. A fair and true grade on the governor\u2019s performance won\u2019t be calculable for weeks, but requesting federal assistance and following the storm forecast can hardly knock off points. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hurricane Ian pummeled Florida last week as a category 4 storm, one of the most powerful to ever make landfall in the United States. And not more than a week<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":1671205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1671203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1671203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1671203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1671203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1671205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1671203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1671203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1671203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}