Earlier this week, thirty Florida Sheriffs publicly denounced the left-wing activist group Florida Rising for its anti-police rhetoric. Florida Rising describes itself as "proudly socialist" has endorsed multiple Democratic candidates in the midterms. These include Charlie Crist, Val Demings, Kathy Castor, Annette Taddeo, and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.
Not only that as it turns out, Florida Rising is funding them as well through a supposed Hurricane Ian relief fund. While we have covered attempts by Florida Democrats to fundraise their campaigns in the wake of Ian, this is certainly a new level of cutthroat politics.
The Florida Ian Response Fund is the work of several left-wing activist groups including Florida Rising. However, the Florida Ian Response Fund does not appear as a legitimate charity on the Commissioner of Agriculture website. Moreover, ianresponse.org is platformed through ActBlue, a major Democratic fundraising website.
The Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee says they "strongly urge those who want to help to give to reputable organizations positioned to help people, not political organizations using this money ‘to win elections and change laws.'"
Twitter account DeSantis War Room posted a thread on the Florida Ian Response Fund, calling the incident "disgusting" and saying that "scamming people who want to help hurricane victims=lowest of the low." Additionally, they demand Charlie Crist denounce Florida Rising.
"https://t.co/ZeLJ08DMnN" is NOT a registered charity. It's a left-wing dark money activist fund.
Scamming people who want to help hurricane victims = the lowest of the low. @CharlieCrist should disavow Florida Rising, who endorsed him.https://t.co/l0gtbOHhZH pic.twitter.com/ORveHLVpEt
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 #FloridaStrong (@DeSantisWarRoom) October 13, 2022
"DISGUSTING: After Hurricane Ian made landfall, Democrat anti-police group Florida Rising began fundraising off of the catastrophic storm. They pushed donors to ianresponse.org, claiming to be "for rebuilding & recovery after #HurricaneIan" BUT donations went to ActBlue!" DeSantis War Room's first tweet reads, followed by ""ianresponse.org" is NOT a registered charity. It's a left-wing dark money activist fund. Scamming people who want to help hurricane victims = the lowest of the low. @CharlieCrist should disavow Florida Rising, who endorsed him."
