Rep. Charlie Crist’s much-anticipated gubernatorial campaign announcement in St. Petersburg fell flat, almost as flat as Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried's simultaneous press conference at the Capitol building in Tallahassee
After the dancers, singers, and supporters finished touting Rep. Crist’s accomplishment’s as both a member of Congress and governor of Florida, Crist took the stage where a whopping 36 viewers were watched his “Florida For All” campaign launch.
Over the course of his speech, the amount of viewers dropped to “0” before swelling up to 114 viewers.
Crist checked off all the boxes for Democrats, saying that DeSantis has “failed to lead” and continues his “attacks on democracy” by targeting “voting and civil rights.”
“I’m running so you will be in charge again, so you will have a governor that will work for the people,” said Crist.
But as he laid out his plans for Floridians, and after railing against Gov.DeSantis efforts, Crist, the “eternal optimist,” may have had a bit of Biden senior moment by mixing up his words when talking about minority communities and confused DeSantis with former Governor Rick Scott.
“Unlike this governor and the Republican leadership in Tallahassee, we will listen to our fellow Floridians. Whether its fully legalizing marijuana, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, strengthening background checks, banning assault weapons, all of these things need to be done to have true justice in our state and our country. Black and Brown Floridians are treated fairly under this administration when we win. That’s what this is about, fundamental fairness for all. A Florida for all Floridians. And listening to the people, it shouldn’t be a radical notion. It’s really pretty simple. Just do the right thing, it's governing with a heart, Scott. It’s doing the right thing for all our people.”
During her press conference, which had about 30-50 people watching, Commissioner Fried said,” Today is charlie’s day and I wish him the best of luck” when asked by reporters to comment on Crist’s run for governor in 2022 against DeSantis’ “authoritarian regime.”
Fried continued, saying that Desantis was “ruling with an iron fist” and adding that a campaign against DeSantis would be “all hands on deck across the country” because a lot of individuals nationwide “want to stop DeSantis.”
As expected, the Republican Party of Florida was waiting with a message:
"While Governor DeSantis put seniors first, kept our kids in school, and businesses open, Charlie Crist advocated for lockdowns, restrictions on businesses, and backed the teachers’ unions efforts to keep our kids from the classroom. Crist supports defunding the police and has voted 100% of the time for Nancy Pelosi’s radical agenda. He even betrayed those who fled communism when he embraced Castro regime officials in a secret trip to Cuba.” – Helen Aguirre Ferre, Executive Director of RPOF
Expect this Democratic gubernatorial primary race to get ugly.
