Florida Democrats have responded with disdain at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ signing of HB1. While the Governor has championed the legislation, Florida leadership like Agricultural Commissioner Niki Fried (D) has slammed the bill, calling it “straight from the Communist regime playbook.” In response, Lieutenant Governor Jeanette M. Nuñez (R) directed a tweet to Commissioner Fried, calling her "regime" comment "offensive" and praising Governor DeSantis’s decision.
Fried, who has been vocal of her disapproval of Governor DeSantis’ work in office, is rumored to be launching a gubernatorial run soon. After the signing of HB1, Fried released a statement, saying that “this Governor and his Republican allies love to talk about the Constitution while shredding it with extreme legislation like HB1.” Arguing that DeSantis is essentially “silencing the speech of those seeking equality,” she expressed that “the criminal aspects of this bill are already illegal.”
Instead of the legislation protecting Floridians, Fried argues that “it’s simply to appease the Governor’s delusion of widespread lawlessness, and it’s frightening to imagine the lengths to which he’ll go to strip away rights and freedoms for political gain.”
On Twitter, she further criticized DeSantis, writing that “under Ron’s regime, there can be no dissent from what he believes” and that “first amendment rights are under attack in Florida.”
.@NikkiFried has the audacity to call our administration a “regime”, but she is OK w/ big tech oligarchs silencing conservatives. This is offensive to Floridians who fled despots & tyrants b/c their voices were silenced. People don’t flock to regimes, they flock to freedom, Nikki https://t.co/6BKDGgNT6L
— Jeanette M. Nunez (@JeanetteNunezFL) April 26, 2021
To this, the Lt. Governor took a verbal jab at Fried, commenting that the Agriculture Commissioner “has the audacity to call our administration a ‘regime,’ but she is ok w/ big tech oligarchs silencing conservatives.” She called Fried’s words “offensive to Floridians who fled despots & tyrants b/c/ their voices were silenced.”
Making a distinction between the two, Nuñez noted that “people don’t flock to regimes, they flock to freedom.”
