Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced his official run for the presidency during a Twitter space with Elon Musk on Wednesday, although his campaign has already faced opposition from Christian activists. DeSantis has long been viewed as the Republican’s best chance to beat former President Donald Trump for the GOP presidential primary election in 2024. He has been known to embrace right-wing culture war issues, such as his opposition to LGBTQ+ rights, passing anti-abortion laws, and promoting Christian nationalism, which made him popular with the Republican conservative base.
However, these policies have also attracted criticism from more moderate Republicans and democratic voters, including a Christian organization called Faithful America. They released an online petition condemning DeSantis’s presidential campaign, accusing him of “twisting religion” for political gain. The petition describes DeSantis as a “proud, far-right Catholic extremist” who “frequently invokes God on the campaign trail” and is “already trying to cloak himself in religious support, bragging about a recent meeting with homophobic evangelist Franklin Graham.”
The petition has surpassed its original goal of 10,000 signatures and, as of Saturday morning, has been signed by more than 12,000 people. It warns that DeSantis will “bring his unholy Christian nationalism to the entire country as president.” The petition also calls on Christians to reject DeSantis’s “hateful and divisive presidential campaign,” which they believe is nothing more than a “theocratic plan to enact a nationwide, anti-democracy Christian nationalist agenda that fires teachers for acknowledging the existence and humanity of LGBTQ people, uses migrants as political props, scapegoats people of color, threatens women’s health, and seeks revenge on his political opponents.”
DeSantis enacted several socially conservative laws in Florida, including the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which placed restrictions on discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. He also signed a law earlier this month defunding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) departments at Florida public universities. Faithful America’s members are “tired” of seeing politicians “manipulate the Bible” while “oppressing their people with pseudo-fascist tactics,” according to the organization’s executive director, Reverend Nathan Empsall.
In response to the petition, DeSantis’s campaign has not yet provided a comment. DeSantis’s policies have made him popular with the Republican base, but critics warn that his extreme right-wing views will not represent the entire country’s interests. Both moderate Republicans and more liberal Democratic voters oppose DeSantis’s policies and what they describe as his “hateful and authoritarian” agenda.
Credit: newsweek.com
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