Mucarsel-Powell Accuses DeSantis of 'Authoritarian' Tactics in Crusade Against Amendment 4

As Election Day rapidly approaches, U.S. Senate contender Debbie Mucarsel-Powell put Gov. Ron DeSantis on blast for hosting an anti-abortion press conference that she likened to Latin America's "authoritarian regimes."

Mucarsel-Powell, who hopes to unseat Republican Sen. Rick Scott, unleashed a two-birds-one-stone attack in a statement to The Floridian where she pointed out that if Scott were still Governor, he would have signed Gov. DeSantis' six-week abortion ban.

This, she says, is tantamount to "robbing" women of their freedoms.

“It’s no surprise that Ron DeSantis and his extreme allies are spreading misinformation about what Amendment 4 does. These tactics to silence the free press and intimidate voters happen in authoritarian regimes in Latin America – not in the United States," said Mucarsel-Powell, a Latina immigrant from Ecuador.

A strong abortion advocate, she slammed the Florida Governor for a Monday morning event he called "Doctors Against Amendment 4." Labeled to the media as a press conference, the affair was comprised of Miami doctors, a Catholic Archbishop, and Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez, the latter two of whom invoked Christianity to convince Floridians to vote against Amendment 4, which would overturn DeSantis' six-week ban.

"We cannot go to church and pray like Christians and turn around and vote like atheists," Nunez said.

Mucarsel-Powell then seized the opportunity to blast Scott, the incumbent Republican in a state with over a million more registered Republicans than Democrats.

"It’s clear that extremists like DeSantis and Rick Scott – who said he would have signed Florida’s abortion ban as governor – will stop at nothing to interfere in women’s personal lives and rob us of our freedoms," she said. "But this November, Floridians are ready to stand up and say no más to this abortion ban and the politicians like Rick Scott who support them.”

Scott spokesman Jonathan Turcotte told The Floridian in a statement that Mucarsel-Powell’s statements are completely false, writing in an email, “Debbie Mucarsel-Powell has resorted to lying in a desperate attempt to save her floundering campaign.

“Senator Scott has been clear where he stands on this issue, repeatedly with voters and the media,” he added.

Last year, Scott said that he would have signed DeSantis' six-week abortion ban if he were Governor. However, in April, he implied that he would support replacing the six-week ban with a 15-week ban, which is what Florida had in place in 2022 until the Republican-dominated Legislature muscled through the "Heartbeat Protection Bill" months before DeSantis announced his presidential candidacy against Donald Trump, who is notoriously dodgy on abortion.

The former Congresswoman's "authoritarian" allegations, meanwhile, stem from a recent case in which DeSantis' Health Department was temporarily blocked from trying to take down pro-Amendment 4 ads. The agency's General Counsel John Wilson had sent a series of cease-and-desist letters threatening criminal prosecution to various TV stations airing an ad he claimed to be "false" and "dangerous".

Before a Circuit Court issued a temporary injunction against the state, Counsel Wilson resigned, citing his "conscience" and alleging the Governor's Office had drafted the letters and ordered him to put his name on them. This is just one of at least ten separate legal cases or litigation threats involving Amendment 4.

A new University of North Florida poll has Mucarsel-Powell trailing Scott by just three percentage points.

If passed by 60%, Amendment 4 would protect abortion access in the state constitution until "fetal viability"—around 24 weeks. The election is on Nov. 5.