We will publish a biography of the President of the United States of America Ron DeSantisPart 3

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00:00We will publish the biography of the candidate for President of the United States of America

00:06Ron DeSantis.

00:08Part 3 On February 2, 2021, DeSantis announced support

00:15for legislation to hold tech companies accountable to prevent alleged political censorship.

00:20In response to social media networks removing Trump from their platforms, DeSantis and other

00:25Florida Republicans pushed legislation in the Florida Legislature to prohibit tech companies

00:30from deplatforming political candidates.

00:33A federal judge blocked the law by preliminary injunction the day before it was to take effect,

00:38on the grounds that it violated the First Amendment in federal law.

00:42When Twitter suspended DeSantis' administration critic Rebecca Jones' account for violating

00:46rules against spam and platform manipulation, DeSantis' office applauded the decision, calling

00:52it long overdue.

00:54DeSantis supported Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, believing it illegal for tech

00:58platforms to block or demote content that might otherwise run afoul of their terms of

01:02service.

01:03In 2024, DeSantis signed into a law a bill that requires social media platforms to prohibit

01:09people under 16 years old from making accounts.

01:13The law has been criticized by digital rights organizations like NetChoice, which said it

01:17forces Floridians to hand over sensitive personal information to websites or lose their access

01:22to critical information channels.

01:25This infringes on Floridians' First Amendment rights to share and access speech online,

01:29and that the Supreme Court has made clear that the government lacks the free-floating

01:32power to restrict the ideas to which children may be exposed.

01:37During 2020 and 2021, scientists and media outlets initially gave mixed reviews of DeSantis's

01:43handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

01:46From March 2020 through March 22, 2023, Florida had the 12th highest rate of cases and deaths

01:52per 100,000 people among the 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, without adjusting for

01:58the age of Florida's large and vulnerable elderly population.

02:02Florida's age-adjusted death rate, which takes its disproportionately elderly population

02:06into account, was roughly near the median among states as of 2021, and a 2022 study

02:12placed it at the nation's 12th lowest.

02:15By 2023, many political scientists acknowledged that DeSantis's management of the pandemic

02:20may have benefited him in his re-election campaign, and he was credited with turning

02:25his coronavirus policies into a parable of American freedom.

02:29On June 1, 2021, DeSantis signed the Fairness in Women's Sports Act, SB 1028.

02:36It bans transgender girls and women from participating and competing in middle school and high school

02:41girls and college women's sports competitions.

02:44The law took effect on July 1.

02:47In February 2022, DeSantis voiced support for the Florida Parental Rights and Education

02:52Act, HB 1557, commonly known as the Don't Say Gay Law, which prohibits discussion of

02:57sexual orientation or gender identity in school classrooms from kindergarten to grade three.

03:03He said it was entirely inappropriate for teachers and school administrators to talk

03:07to students about their gender identity.

03:11DeSantis signed the bill into law in March 2022, and it took effect on July 1, 2022.

03:18This statute also includes a provision requiring school district personnel to encourage a student

03:22to discuss issues relating to his or her well-being with his or her parent or to facilitate discussion

03:27of the issue with the parent, and does not limit such issues to sexual orientation or

03:32gender identity.

03:34As of March 2023, DeSantis was considering further similar legislation for all grades.

03:40On April 19, the State Board of Education extended the Act's restrictions on classroom

03:45instruction to grades 4 to 12, unless the instruction is required by existing state

03:49standards or is part of an elective course on reproductive health.

03:54The Walt Disney Company, owner of Walt Disney World in Florida, called for the law's repeal,

03:58beginning a dispute between Disney and the state government.

04:02In April 2022, DeSantis signed a bill eliminating the company's Special Independent District

04:08Act and replacing its Disney-appointed board of overseers.

04:12He also threatened during a press conference to build a new state prison near the Disney

04:15World complex.

04:18On April 26, 2023, Disney filed suit against DeSantis and several others, accusing them

04:24of retaliating against protected speech.

04:26DeSantis's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss Disney's lawsuit on June 26, claiming that

04:32the governor and state legislators have legislative immunity.

04:36The lawsuit was dismissed on January 31, 2024, and on March 27 Disney and DeSantis

04:42reached a settlement, allowing DeSantis more control over Disney's operations in Florida

04:46while allowing Disney to negotiate a new development agreement with the state.

04:51DeSantis opposes efforts to defund the police, and his governor has introduced initiatives

04:56to fund the police.

04:58In September 2021, he introduced a $5,000 signing bonus for Florida police officers

05:03and a bid to attract out-of-state police recruits.

05:07In April 2021, DeSantis signed into law the Combating Public Disorder Act he had been

05:12advocating.

05:14Aside from being an anti-riot statute, it forbade intimidation by mobs, penalized damage

05:18to historic properties or memorials, such as downtown Miami's Christopher Columbus statue,

05:24which was damaged in 2020 and forbade publishing personal identifying information online with

05:29intent to harm.

05:31DeSantis had argued for this legislation by citing the George Floyd protests of 2020 and

05:35the 2021 United States Capitol attack, although only the former was mentioned at the signing

05:41ceremony.

05:42Several months after the signing, a federal judge blocked the portion of the law that

05:46introduced a new definition of riot, calling it too vague.

05:50On May 5, 2021, DeSantis announced that all Florida police officers, firefighters, and

05:55paramedics would receive a $1,000 bonus.

05:59On December 2, 2021, DeSantis announced that as part of a $100 million funding proposal

06:05for the Florida National Guard, $3.5 million would be allocated to the reactivation of

06:10the Florida State Guard, a volunteer state defense force that had been inactive since

06:141947.

06:16In June 2019, DeSantis signed an anti-dash sanctuary city bill into law.

06:22Florida had no sanctuary cities before the law's enactment, and immigration advocates

06:27called the bill politically motivated.

06:29Florida became the 12th state to adopt legislation requiring local governments to aid federal

06:34immigration enforcement efforts.

06:37In June 2020, DeSantis signed a bill requiring government employers and contractors to use

06:42E-Verify.

06:44He had originally called for all employers to be required to use it.

06:48A few years later, he signed into law an expansion of E-Verify and other immigration laws.

06:54In 2021, DeSantis halted cooperation with the Biden administration's program to relocate

06:59and resettle migrants in Florida in the wake of a surge in illegal immigration.

07:04DeSantis's administration also allocated $12 million for relocating migrants to other states.

07:11In September 2022, after similar actions by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, an agent of DeSantis

07:17recruited 50 newly arrived asylum seekers, mostly from Venezuela, in San Antonio, Texas,

07:23and flew them via two chartered planes to the Crestview, Florida airport, where they

07:26did not debark, then proceeded to Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

07:31The migrants filed a class-action suit against DeSantis, calling his treatment of them extreme

07:35and outrageous, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community.

07:40In May 2023, DeSantis announced plans to send over 1,000 personnel to Texas, including National

07:46Guard troops, to help Texas stem the influx of illegal immigration across the southern

07:51border.

07:52DeSantis was widely praised for the state's response to Hurricane Ian, the deadliest hurricane

07:57to hit Florida in over 85 years.

08:00In September 2022, DeSantis declared a state of emergency for all of Florida as Ian approached

08:05and asked for federal aid ahead of time.

08:08On October 5, after Ian deserted Florida, President Biden arrived in Florida and met

08:13with DeSantis and Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott.

08:17DeSantis and Biden held a press conference in Fort Myers, at which Biden said DeSantis

08:21had done a good job to report on the status of the cleanup.

08:26In addition, DeSantis partnered with Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Inc., to use

08:31the Starlink satellite internet service to help restore communication across the state.

08:36DeSantis supported programs dedicated to environmental conservation and protection from flooding

08:41in Florida.

08:43At the same time, he questioned climate science, supported fossil fuels, opposed renewables,

08:48and sanctioned firms for considering environmental issues in their investments.

08:53The Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act gave Florida $3.75

08:58million for urban forests and nature, $209,000 for fighting pollution, and $78.7 million

09:05to protect the state from climate change impacts.

09:08DeSantis refused to accept $346 million from the Inflation Reduction Act for rebates to

09:14homeowners who want to retrofit their houses, make it more energy efficient, $3 million

09:19to fight pollution, and a program to help low-income people buy solar panels, as well

09:23as $24 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for improving sewage systems

09:28in rural areas.

09:31The rebates were requested by Florida Energy Office and the legislature, but DeSantis vetoed

09:36them.

09:37All other governors, including Republicans, accepted the money.

09:41The money could go to local cities and authorities, and three Florida cities received some funds.

09:47Rhode Island and Kentucky requested to take Florida's money for themselves.

09:52The program should help people lower their energy bills and weatherize their houses while

09:56creating jobs.

09:58Half the money should go to low-income households.

10:01Making a house more energy efficient can cut utility bills by 25% for an average family.

10:07DeSantis later reversed course and attempted to reclaim some of the rejected home energy

10:12rebate funds.

10:14In June 2024, DeSantis vetoed a bill passed by the Statehouse that would have created

10:18a statewide process managed by the Department of Health to issue closures and send warnings

10:22if the bacteria in waterways reached unsafe levels.

10:26Between 2020 and 2023, media outlets saw DeSantis as a likely candidate for the 2024 presidential

10:33election, and various notable people urged him to run.

10:37In September 2021, he called 2024 speculation purely manufactured.

10:43In April 2023, he said, I am not a candidate, so we'll see if and when that changes at

10:48that time.

10:49Trump was leading DeSantis in polls for the Republican nomination, but DeSantis was performing

10:53better than Trump in battleground polling of the general election.

10:57In a straw poll conducted at the 2022 Conservative Political Action Conference for the 2024 Republican

11:03presidential nomination, DeSantis came in second with 28% of the vote, behind Trump's

11:0859%.

11:10Beginning in 2022, DeSantis became increasingly seen as a contender for the Republican nomination.

11:18Various writers predicted that he could defeat Trump or said that he was preferable to Trump

11:22in view of the January 6 hearings and subsequent straw polls.

11:26These ideas gained more traction after the 2022 midterm elections, when DeSantis was

11:31re-elected governor by almost 20 percentage points, while Trump-endorsed candidates, such

11:35as Mehmet Oz and the Senate race in Pennsylvania, performed poorly.

11:40The release of DeSantis's memoir, The Courage to Be Free, and subsequent book tour, also

11:45increased 2024 speculation.

11:48On May 24, 2023, DeSantis officially launched his bid for president.

11:54It was announced on X, then called Twitter, with assistance from its owner, Elon Musk.

11:59On Jan. 21, 2024, two days before the New Hampshire primary, DeSantis announced on X

12:05that he was suspending his campaign and endorsed Trump.

12:09He had finished in a distant second-place finish to Trump in the Iowa caucuses the previous

12:13week.

12:14DeSantis's campaign finished with nine delegates to the Republican National Convention.

12:20Despite having already dropped out, DeSantis still had his name on the ballot for the 2024

12:25Florida Republican presidential primary and received 3.7 percent of the vote.

12:31DeSantis met his wife, Casey Black, at a golf course at the University of North Florida.

12:37She had been a television host for the Golf Channel and then a television journalist and

12:41news anchor at WJXT.

12:44They married on Sept. 26, 2009, in a chapel at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.

12:50DeSantis is Catholic, as was his wedding ceremony.

12:55The couple lived in Ponte Vedra Beach, near St. Augustine, until it was drawn into the

12:59neighboring 4th Congressional District.

13:02They then moved to a condo owned by Ken Sturman in Palm Coast, north of Daytona Beach, which

13:07remained in the district he represented, the 6th.

13:10They have three children.

13:12He is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.

13:18In 2022, DeSantis appeared on Time 100, Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people

13:24in the world.

13:26As of Sept. 2023, his net worth was estimated at around $1.5 million, up from $300,000 in

13:332021.

13:34His $1.25 million book deal with HarperCollins in 2022 made him a millionaire by the end

13:39of that year.

13:41On May 24, 2023, Ron DeSantis, the 46th and current governor of Florida, announced his

13:47candidacy for the 2024 United States presidential election.

13:52On Jan. 21, 2024, DeSantis suspended his campaign and endorsed former President Donald

13:58Trump.

13:59DeSantis' campaign finished after having won nine delegates from the Republican National

14:04Convention in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries.

14:09DeSantis won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 and was re-elected

14:14in 2014 in 2016.

14:17He sought Marco Rubio's U.S. Senate seat in 2016, withdrawing when Rubio announced

14:22he would seek re-election.

14:23In 2018, he was elected governor of Florida, winning re-election in 2022.

14:31DeSantis' aggressive decisions during his governorship led to speculation that he would

14:35run for president.

14:38Rupert Murdoch's New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Fox News promoted DeSantis

14:42as an alternative to former President Donald Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

14:48In early 2023, he began a book tour for his newly published memoir The Courage to Be Free

14:53in Early Voting States.

14:55DeSantis officially announced his campaign in a Twitter Spaces discussion with X Corporation's

15:00CEO Elon Musk, following the release of his plans to the Associated Press a day earlier.

15:06Technical issues affected the discussion and became a focal point for critics.

15:11His campaign began with an in-person event in Iowa, followed by a tour in early voting

15:15states.

15:16DeSantis focused on his governorship and his policy record.

15:21In particular, he touted his stance on LGBT issues and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic

15:26in Florida in an effort to differentiate himself from Trump.

15:30Although DeSantis initially had competitive support to Trump according to aggregate 538

15:35polls, the margin between Trump and DeSantis steadily widened over the course of 2023.

15:41I stop at this point today.

15:44We continue to narrate a stage in the life of the candidate for Ron DeSantis.

15:49Soon we will publish part 4.

15:53Until next time, stay curious.

15:56Stay informed and keep exploring the world's incredible stories.

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