JUICE — Florida Politics' Juicy Read — 7.23.2021 — DeSantis Melts Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream— No Green Card, No Job Amigo— More...

"Sabatini Files Bill Mandating use of E-Verify in Florida," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres±—State Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R) has just filed E-Verify legislation that would mandate that all Florida businesses verify that the workers they seek to hire pass must first prove “they are legal” to work.

"Ron DeSantis Responds to the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Discrimination Against Israel," by The Floridian's Jim McCool—Months after the Israeli-Palestinian conflict hit its climax, the popular Ben & Jerry’s ice cream company has officially made the controversial discrimination against Israel by pulling their products from its’ Judea and Samaria region.

"Lincoln Project Wants Fox News Off The Air," by The Floridian's Jim McCool—Even as voluntary COVID-19 vaccine distribution has been well underway across the country, Fox News has run into trouble with some of its central figures, including Tucker Carlson, who is accused of discouraging facts about the vaccine. The accusations have prompted The Lincoln Project to launch a new ad calling for Fox News to be taken off the air.

"Wasserman Schultz Wants DeSantis to own new COVID Infection Surge," by The Floridian's Daniel Molina—With the rise in COVID-19 variants spreading across the United States, a state experiencing a surge in COVID cases in Florida. Florida and Texas were some of the first states to declare that they were completely opening a few months ago, and there were no plans to implement any more restrictions. However, Democrats are now aiming verbal jabs at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) over the increase in COVID cases, and want to give him credit for the new COVID infection surge.

RUbio Calls Democratic Socialists ‘Crazy,’ Says U.S. Needs to Expedite Evil Cuban Regime’s Death," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres—Miami— “The leaders in Cuba aren’t just evil, they are incompetent people,” said Senator Marco Rubio during a Fox News Channel “Hannity” town hall meeting at the iconic Versaille restaurant, where he and Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared to discuss the protests occurring on the island of Cuba and throughout the exile community.

"Desantis Tells Biden To ‘Step Up’ and Help Protestors In Cuba," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres—Miami—Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Senator Marco Rubio appeared on a special town hall edition of the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” show to discuss the ongoing protests in Cuba, and the protests of support throughout the exile communities across the U.S., particularly in Miami-Dade County.

"Senate GOP Blocks Debate On Bipartisan $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Plan," by The Floridian's Mona Salama—Senate Republicans blocked a key procedural vote to open debate on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill Wednesday, fulfilling a promise made to kill the motion arguing they wouldn’t vote to start consideration until they saw a final version detailing what exactly the legislation entails.

"Pelosi Rejects Trump Allies Reps. Jordan and Banks From Jan. 6 Select Committee," by The Floridian's Mona Salama—Senate Republicans blocked a key procedural vote to open debate on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill Wednesday, fulfilling a promise made to kill the motion arguing they wouldn’t vote to start consideration until they saw a final version detailing what exactly the legislation entails.

"Val Demings Uses Campaign Dollars to pay for For Health, Dental Insurance," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres—Like most Americans with health insurance, members of Congress Rep. Valdez “Val” Demings (D) and Senator Marco Rubio (R) who are paid a yearly salary of $174,000, have to pay their healthcare premiums out of their own pockets.

"Amanda Makki Runs for Congress Again," by The Floridian's Jim McCool—With election season next year, Florida is looking to once again host some of the tightest races in the entire country. However, some familiar faces like Amanda Makki (R) are making a comeback as Makki once again announces a run for Congress, and sets up a Republican primary rematch against Anna Paulina Luna.

"Rubio Backs Embargo, Says Cuban Regime has Imposed ‘blockade’ on the People of Cuba," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres—As the tension between the Cuban people and the Castro regime continues to escalate, discussions continue in the United States as to what the proper response should be. Taking to the Senate floor to explore the subject, Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) said that the Biden administration is discussing “remittances.” However, Rubio brought up an issue that lawmakers and Americans have been questioning since the protests in Cuba began, which is “why don’t we get rid of the embargo?”

 

"Diaz-Balart on Biden: ‘Where is his leadership?’ by The Floridian's Daniel Molina— Lawmakers continue to discuss the growing tension that is taking place in Cuba. A bipartisan group of lawmakers has denounced the Castro regime and the conversation regarding how best the United States can help continues. This week, on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R) noted that he wants President Joe Biden (D) to show “solidarity” because “the people of Cuba are standing up for freedom and suffering horrific consequences for it.”

"Rubio Calls Biden ‘Lazy’ Over Cuba," by The Floridian's Jim McCool—As many Democrats such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) continue to blame the United States for the civil unrest in Cuba, the White House has reportedly gone along with this idea and even started to explore a “working group” to examine remittances to Cuba in the wake of protests on the island to determine how those residing in the United States can send money to the country. However, outspoken Cuban government detractor Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) called Biden “lazy” in his attempt to help Cubans.

"Tom Brady Crack Jokes On Biden’s 2020 Election Victory And ‘Sleepy’ Nickname," by the Floridian's Mona Salama—Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady cracked a pair of election jokes Tuesday, poking fun by comparing his team unimaginable Super Bowl victory to the 2020 election results and mocking President Biden’s “Sleepy Joe” nickname.

"Republican Joe Gruters Accused of Sexual Harassment by Male Senate Staffer," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres

"Texas Senate advances Republican priority bills," by Texas Politic's Isabel Webb Carey—Despite the ongoing quorum block in the Texas House after 58 Democratic members fled down in protest of Republican efforts to pass voting laws, the Texas Senate has advanced the Republican priority bills that were listed in Gov. Greg Abbott’s agenda for the special legislative session.

"Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith Assigns Blame for Cuba on US," by the Floridian's Jim McCool—As the Cuban protests have been mobilized from the streets of Havana to communities in South Florida, the protests in Cuba have been at the very center of Florida Politics, which has sadly become another partisan issue.

"McCarthy Selects His 5 GOP Picks To Serve On Democrat-Led Jan. 6 Select Committee." by The Floridian's Mona Salama

"Biden Walks Back Claims Of Facebook Misinformation Is ‘Killing People’ "by The Floridian's Mona Salama

"Senator Rubio’s Fundraising Shows Grim Reality for Demings," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres—With Election Day 2022 still being more than a year away, the Florida Senate race between incumbent Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and challenger Rep. Val Demings (D-FL), appears as if it will be a race that will get ugly, fast. However, fundraising says a lot about a candidacy, and Rubio’s fundraising prowess shows a grim reality for Demings’ Senate bid.

"Biden Administration Transfers First Prisoner Out Of Guantánamo Bay’ by The Floridian's Mona Salama—The Biden administration on Monday has transferred its first detainee held at the notorious U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to his native country of Morocco, the first prisoner released under President Biden.

Congressional Republicans Crush Democrats in Fundraising," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres—The 2022 midterm election season is well on its way and through the first six months of 2021, all of Florida’s congressional Republicans have raised significant Q2 fundraising numbers, with Reps. Matt Gaetz (R), Byron Donalds (R), Brian Mast (R), and Maria Elvira Salazar (R), all having raised totals north of $1 million.

Rep. Gaetz tops all members with a staggering $3.3 million raised, but Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D) has the most “Cash on Hand” with about $2 million in the bank. Reps. Mast and Gaetz are right behind her with $1.7 million and $1.6 million, respectively.

"Florida College Pushes False ‘Republicans are Fascist’ Narrative," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres—Republicans and Conservatives blame academia for trying to indoctrinate students with liberal and socialist teachings, and while it doesn’t seem fair to accuse them of such political mind control, educators and publishers of the books they teach from bring it upon themselves as many continue to teach that Republicans are Fascist.

"DeSantis Visits Southern Border, Leads The Way on Border Crisis," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres—As the border crisis continues to deepen with horror stories of rape, human trafficking, and other criminal acts being reported by some mainstream media, the Biden Administration has seemingly neglected the problem, allowing Florida to lead the way on securing the border as Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) himself visited the Southern Border.

"Biden Accuses Facebook Of ‘Killing People’ With Misinformation," by The Floridian's Mona Salama—President Biden accused Facebook of “killing people” by allowing in what he claims are the spread of misinformation regarding the COVID-19 vaccines to be shared on social media platforms.

"Anthony Sabatini to Introduce Bill Blocking U.S. Capitol Police from Florida," by The Floridian's Jim McCool—In the aftermath of the 2020 election, the January 6th riot on Capitol Hill still remains a relevant issue over 6 months later. Across the nation, political figures from both political parties have denounced the riot and Democrats have used the event as a political pawn. Just this week Congressional hopeful and state Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R-32) has committed to introducing a bill to block Capitol Police from working with law enforcement in Florida.

"Migrant Apprehension At Southern Border Rose To 188,000 In June, Reaching 1 Million Total Encounters So Far In 2021," by The Floridian's Mona Salama—Custom and Border Patrol apprehended and arrested more than 188,000 migrants at the southern border in June, marking the fourth straight month reaching another new highest one-month record bringing the total number of encounters for this fiscal year (FY) 2021 to over 1 million.

"Lauren Book Leads Charge to Challenge HB 1," by The Floridian's Jim McCool—Several months after the 2021 Florida legislative session, state Democrats have not given up in fighting the controversial HB 1 anti-riot bill Governor DeSantis (R-FL) has signed into law. Now, state Senator and minority leader, Sen. Lauren Book (D-32) has led the charge to challenge HB 1.

"Democratic Socialists Spar With Liberal to Moderate Democrats Over Cuba," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres—The ideological struggle between Liberal to Moderate Democrats and the Democratic Socialists of the Democratic Party has taken shape as a result of the historic protests in Communist Cuba.

"White House Colludes With Facebook ‘Flagging’ COVID ‘Disinformation’ Posts," by The Floridian's Mona Salama

Mayor Suarez Wants to Drop Bombs on Cuban Leaders, But Russia Stands In the Way," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres—After 60 years of oppression or “Satanic nightmare” by Dictator Fidel Castro in Communist Cuba, do you blame Cuban Americans like Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (R) for wanting to drop bombs on the heads of the regime leaders?

"Miami Republicans Condemn Offensive Black Lives Matter Statement on Cuba," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres—The backlash over the offensive statement put out by the Democratic Party-supported Black Lives Matter organization has upset both South Florida Republicans and Democrats and now Miami Republicans have released a statement denouncing Black Lives Matter insulting remarks against Cubans and Cuban Americans.

"AOC Finally Breaks Silence On Cuba By Echoing BLM Blaming U.S ‘Absurdly Cruel’ Embargo For Protests," by The Floridian's Mona Salama—Rep. Alexnder Ocasio-Cortez has finally broken her silence regarding Cuba’s anti-government protests, echoing Black Lives Matter (BLM) recent statement that condemns the U.S. for the “absurdly cruel” trade embargo levied against the communist country.

"Jet Blue Supports Cross-Dressing Flight Attendants [IMAGE]," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres

"Mast Introduces Legislation to Support Veterans," by The Floridian's Daniel Molina—Florida Rep. Brian Mast (R), who served in the military for more than 12 years and was wounded in combat, announced legislation that would support veterans in both his district and across the country. He has introduced three bills that will increase access to services, they will enhance efficiency, and they will also tackle mental health concerns that veterans are facing.

"Rick Scott: ‘Biden Needs to Show the Heck up’ On Cuba," by The Floridian's Jim McCool—As the tensions mount in Cuba and protests continue, the long-standing Communist regime is being challenged by its own people and Cuban-American activists alike. Although we have seen pivotal moves from notable politicians such as Gov. DeSantis (R-FL) attempting to supply internet access to the island, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) does not think the US is doing enough and has officially called on President Biden (D) “to show the heck up!”

"Kat Cammack Raised $500K in Latest Fundraising Quarter," by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres—herself a pretty good chunk of change in this FEC reporting cycle. Rep. Cammack raised $500,000 between her campaign account, and her related political committees, Kat Victory Committee, and KAT PAC.

"Team DeSantis Sells ‘Don’t Fauci My Florida’ Merchandise Prompts Liberal Outrage," by The Floridian's Mona Salama

"Florida Democrats Call New Election Integrity Laws ‘Jim Crow Laws’ by The Floridian's Jim McCool—As multiple states have gone on to pass new election laws that Republicans have branded as “election integrity laws,” Democrats across the country, particularly Florida, have all seemingly agreed to cast a “Jim Crow” stigma on the legislation that largely supports voter ID and eliminates ballot harvesting.

"Erika Benfield, Florida’s ‘Unapologetic Conservative’ Runs for Congress," by The Floridian's Daniel Molina

"Steube Slams Democrats For ‘Staying Silent’ On Cuba," by The Floridian's Daniel Molina—Florida Rep. Greg Steube (R) is sounding off against Democratic members of Congress, arguing that they have failed to denounce the Communist Castro regime. In a statement, the member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Steube shared his support for the Cuban protestors, slamming his “Democrat colleagues” for “practically staying silent in condemning this humanitarian catastrophe and destabilizing threat at our very doorstep.”

"Rubio: Biden Should Use the Diplomacy He Brags About," by The Floridian's Daniel Molina—After days of protests in Cuba that have sent shockwaves across the world, some lawmakers are expressing their disappointment in the response that the Biden administration has taken this week. Reports surfaced that the Biden administration was loosening sanctions against Venezuela, and lawmakers in South Florida are now arguing that the administration should be more pressing on the subject.