Is Ron DeSantis' memoir a preview of his presidential bid?

The governor of Florida published his second autobiography. In it, he talks about his fight against Disney and suggests that the country needs a leader like him.

Published by

Rosana Rábago Sainz

3 de marzo, 2023

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Ron DeSantis published his second memoir last Tuesday. Entitled The Courage to be Free: Florida's Blueprint for American Revival, the autobiography could be the governor's preview to his presidential bid. The first chapter of the book, entitled Make America Florida may prove the politician's intention to run in the 2024 elections.

In the book, according to the EFE news agency, DeSantis suggests his strategy for the United States to become, once again, the powerful nation that it was a few years ago:

The Florida Plan is a simple formula: be willing to lead, have the courage of your convictions, deliver for your constituents, and reap the political rewards. This is a model for America's renaissance.

The governor points out that what makes Florida successful goes beyond a simple formula. DeSantis believes that the state's success is due, in large part, to his time as governor:

Part of the reason why [the State] has stood out during my tenure as governor is that we have not been afraid to take bold stands against all odds: we have fought the leftist media and bureaucrats to defend Florida's freedom during the pandemic; we have fought Disney to protect the little ones; and we have stood up to powerful interests to safeguard our natural resources.

The battle against Disney, explained by Ron DeSantis

Disney, the company that in his opinion embodies the woke ideology, wasn't spared from appearing in this book either. DeSantis devotes an entire chapter to discussing his fight with the entertainment company, which recently resulted in the governor's victory in stripping the company of its ability to govern itself.

Although he mentions this legislation in the book, the most important part is when he discusses his meeting with former Disney CEO Bob Chapek when the Parental Rights in Education bill began. FOX News reported what DeSantis wrote in his book:

As the controversy over the Parental Rights in Education bill was coming to a head, Chapek called me. He did not want Disney to get involved, but he was getting a lot of pressure to weigh in against the bill.

Chapek's comment surprised Ron DeSantis who replied that, if Disney defended the law, people might ask, "‘Gee, how come Disney has never said anything about China, where they make a fortune?’"

In addition, the governor felt that Disney, in the end, had no choice but to get involved in the controversy since they would have provoked a wave of online criticism had they stayed out of it:

Then there will be some new outrage that the woke mob will focus on and people will forget about this issue, especially considering the outrage is directed at a political-media narrative, not the actual text of the legislation itself.

DeSantis' main enemy, woke culture

Along with Disney, the Florida governor took aim at his main enemy. It is not his hypothetical rival, Donald Trump, whom he speaks well of throughout his book. It is woke culture. He tries to fight against it on a daily basis, either by banning books or by "protecting women's sports" from "gender ideologies."

The Nation summarized his memoir and pointed out that woke culture is produced by an elite group of people. Ron DeSantis describes them as enemies since "they control the federal bureaucracy, the lobbying firms on K Street [in Washington], the big companies, the traditional media, the technology companies, and the universities:"

Its members are products of the ideological system of higher education in the United States and, consequently, share a set of uniform (...) ideas, [that] transcends divisions based on geography, ethnicity, and traditional religion; indeed, ideology is the de facto religion of the elites.