DeSantis Says Democrats 'Have a Soft Spot for Dictatorships Like in Cuba' [Video]

Miami—Shortly after concluding his remarks at the University of Miami’s Don Soffer Clinical Research Center, where he announced a $100 million budget carve for cancer research, Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the Biden administration’s lifting of sanctions against Communist Cuba.

Gov. DeSantis said Biden has done “next to nothing” to counter Cuba’s crackdown against peaceful demonstrations last year, adding that the administration has looked to do business with oppressive regimes “fighting against freedoms” in the Western Hemisphere.

When asked what his thoughts were about his administration being referred to as a “regime” and him being compared to authoritarian dictators like Fidel Castro by Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D) and others, DeSantis reared back and unloaded on those he says “have a soft spot for dictatorships like in Cuba.”

Rep. Guillermo Smith incredulously stood on the floor of the Florida House of Representatives and defended Socialism, saying:

“Again, Wow! These are stunning allegations that Socialism has killed people around the world. My question is, are you at all concerned that by focusing on Democratic Socialism, which has actually resulted in no deaths, no one is physically harmed, and not addressing the very real problem of neo-Nazism, white supremacy, and Fascism in the last four years, that we are sending a bad message.”- Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (The Floridian)

“I think it’s a slap in the face to everybody in South Florida that has experience with these Marxist dictators in our hemisphere,” said DeSantis. “You have people who were driven out of the island of Cuba. You have people that it’s so bad the oppression there that they would get on a raft and go 90 miles over shark-infested waters to be able to get to freedom.”

"I realized that there may be some people in the state of Florida, not in my party, but some others, politicians who have a soft spot for dictatorships like in Cuba, they have a soft spot for people Maduro"—@GovRonDeSantis
Via @Floridianpress

>https://t.co/KtLc3wwm5a#FlPol pic.twitter.com/sp4eX1Oe0x

— Javier Manjarres (@JavManjarres) May 17, 2022

DeSantis continued:

“So to equate Florida, which is viewed not only in our country but even around the world as a beachhead of freedom, to equate that with those regimes just shows

that you have no idea what you are talking about… “I realized that there may be some people in the state of Florida, not in my party, but some others, politicians who have a soft spot for dictatorships like in Cuba they have a soft spot for people Maduro and Ortega,” said DeSantis. I have contempt for those views because those do not represent the values of the state of Florida, particularly the values of the people of South Florida.”