In her endeavor to position herself as the most viable 2022 Democrat gubernatorial challenger to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who recently called for the FBI to investigate Gov. DeSantis' actions, has beefed up her attacks against the sitting governor by blurring the lines between what’s political and what’s strictly official.
Remember, Fried is expected to announce a gubernatorial run in 2022 after the 2021 legislative session concludes, and could face strong primary challenge from Rep. Charlie Crist, Val Demings, Rep.Gwen Graham and possibly Sen. Lauren Book.
All of Commissioner Fried’s attacks or criticisms against Gov. DeSantis have come via her personal Twitter handle and from her Florida Consumers First political action committee.
Now Fried has decided to take a different, more hypocritical, and “official” approach to campaigning against DeSantis. Fried is now using her official Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs (FDAC) email to launch an attack against DeSantis over the result of the recent Clemency Board hearing.
The apparent hypocrisy comes as Fried accuses DeSantis of playing politics with his executive position and the ongoing COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, as she is using her position as AG Commissioner to try to score political points against her probable 2022 gubernatorial opponent.
The Republican Party of Florida 's Chair of Chairs, Evan Power, responded to Fried's over the line barb, saying that the commissioner is "desperate for relevance."
"You would think after Commissioner Fried got chastised for crossing the line with her gas pump stickers she would know not to cross the line again," stated Chairman Power. " Sadly, Nikki Fried is so desperate for relevance she will even use public resources to continue her baseless and politically motivated attacks on Governor DeSantis."
“This Governor continues denying rights to a deserving Floridian in Desmond Meade on the basis of a long-ago military dishonorable discharge, but had no issue with appointing a Chief Administrative Judge who had been discharged for poor conduct from the Navy,” stated Fried. “This hypocritical grandstanding underlies the fact that today's changes to Florida's clemency rules, while an improvement, will still needlessly leave thousands of Floridians without their civil and voting rights.”
