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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has proposed re-establishing the state’s Florida State Guard, which is a civilian-military force.
The purpose of this guard is to quickly provide aid in response to hurricanes and other emergencies.
Several other states across the country have similar civilian forces, including New York and California.
Liberals immediately became unhinged following DeSantis’ announcement.
CNN’s take on the story quickly went viral among liberals.
CNN’s homepage was dominated with the headline, “DeSantis proposes new civilian military force.” The liberal outlet stressed that DeSantis “would control” the force.
It wasn’t until the fourth paragraph that CNN acknowledged that Florida would be the 23rd state to establish such a force, Fox News notes.
Several liberal media personalities shared the story, including MSNBC’s Joy Reid.
“So… y’all know this is fascisty bananas, right…?” Reid tweeted.
“DeSantis wants Florida to establish its own military force. He can’t be trusted,” Reid added, despite how common it is for states to create their own civilian-military force.
Left-wing comedian Sarah Silverman instantly fired back directly to Reid, “Please read the article before you post this stuff you’re a news outlet. The truth has to matter.”
Reid wasn’t alone in her attempt to mock DeSantis.
Liberal radio host Dean Obeidallah reacted to the CNN report by saying, “WOW: GOP Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis wants to form a personal militia like the ‘political’ leaders in Iraq have. It would be a militia that only answers to him. This is the beginning of a ‘Red Army’ as the GOP prepares for war. Literally.”
Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson wrote, “‘And that, children, was the genesis of Florida’s nuclear weapons program.'”
“So…fascism,” Daily Beast columnist Wajahat Ali tweeted.
“What wannabe totalitarian, fascist, authoritarian dictators do,” MSNBC analyst Fernand Amandi said.
“i can never figure out how much of this is serious and how much is desantis just trying to get a headline to use to trigger the libs,” New York Times opinion columnist Jamelle Bouie tweeted.
More from Fox News:
“We want to make sure that we have the flexibility and the ability needed to respond to events in our state in the most effective way possible. That will require us to have access and be able to use support in ways that are not encumbered by the federal government or don’t require federal government,” DeSantis said Thursday. “So I’m going to be recommending in the budget $3.5 million to re-establish the Florida State Guard. The Florida State Guard will act as a civilian volunteer force that will have the ability to assist the National Guard and state-specific emergencies.”
“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to reestablish a World War II-era civilian military force that he, not the Pentagon, would control,” the CNN article began. “But in a nod to the growing tension between Republican states and the Biden administration over the National Guard, DeSantis also said this unit, called the Florida State Guard, would be ‘not encumbered by the federal government.’ He said this force would give him ‘the flexibility and the ability needed to respond to events in our state in the most effective way possible'”…
“Today, ‘DeSantis’ was trending on Twitter alongside ‘Gestapo.’ This is a result of sensationalist false narratives pushed by irresponsible journalists,” DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told Fox News. “The fact is that 22 other states already have a State Guard, like proposed for Florida. Calling them ‘Gestapo’ is disrespectful, not only to the service members who assist states in emergencies, but also to victims of the actual Gestapo.”
“Corporate media’s super-spreaders of disinformation are desperate to score cheap political points against Governor DeSantis, but they aren’t fooling Floridians. Florida is the freest state in the country, because we have a governor who fights to defend our constitutional rights – even in the face of an unprecedented onslaught from the Biden Administration. Protecting citizens’ freedom to live their lives and make their own choices, as Governor DeSantis does, is the opposite of dictatorship,” Pushaw added.
