Gov. Ron DeSantis implored Floridians to stop and think before they listen to what Sen. Randy Fine has to say about his new appointee to the University of West Florida, an embattled professor Fine called a "bigot."
DeSantis responded to the growing backlash facing Scott Yenor, a former Boise State University professor appointed by DeSantis to lead UWF's board of trustees, for comments that Fine and the Jewish Legislative Caucus have called antisemitic and anti-women. At a Tuesday committee hearing, Fine doubled down and ripped into Yenor for being an "idiot."
But DeSantis dismissed Fine's remarks Wednesday, telling reporters at a Tallahassee press conference to "consider the source."
"I stand by the appointment of Scott Yenor, he has been a champion for the types of reforms at universities we need," DeSantis said from the Capitol press room. "Let's just consider the source: that same Senator called me antisemitic...I just think it's misplaced criticism. I think it's part of a separate political agenda."
In response, Fine told The Floridian via text message that he has never called the governor an antisemite, claiming DeSantis is instead "deflecting" criticism of his "abhorrent" pick by lying.
"Ron DeSantis is deflecting legitimate criticism of his poor judgment because he can’t defend his abhorrent choice," Fine said. "I’ve never called Ron DeSantis an antisemite; by falsely accusing me of doing so he raises real questions about whether he actually is one."
Though the governor's office did not respond to a request for comment on when Fine allegedly called him "antisemitic," this is not the first brush the Florida conservatives have had with one another. Fine, the Legislature's sole Jewish Republican, was one of the first to switch his endorsement to Donald Trump during DeSantis' presidential bid, claiming DeSantis had not done enough to combat antisemitism after the Oct. 7th attack on Israel.
Months later, the two sparred over DeSantis attending a football game in Ireland, a country Fine described as "antisemitic" for recognizing Palestine as a sovereign state. Fine has since promised to investigate the pay and duties of the governor's staffers for allegedly "unprofessional" behavior and has most recently clashed with DeSantis over illegal immigration legislation.
Who's Scott Yenor, and What Did He Do?
On Tuesday, Fine spearheaded the charge to delete Yenor's name from a Senate bill that would have allowed him to sit on the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition's board of directors. He called him a "bigot," an "idiot," and a "misogynist," leading the Senate panel to nix the 55-year-old from consideration.
Yenor was one of five UWF appointments made in early January. A member of the Society for American Civic Renewal, a men-only Christian nationalist organization, and an employee of the Claremont Institute's Center for the American Way of Life, he first came under fire for 2021 comments calling feminism "evil" and lambasting higher education's "indoctrination camps," AP reported.
Soon after his appointment, Yenor took to social media to list the "slim pickin's" making up the Congressional Democrat Party. This included noting the potential disqualifiers of party members, which meant that "only six" of the 47 Democrat Senators are straight white men.
Throughout the backlash, however, DeSantis has defended his appointment.
"I'm not somebody that's just going to let someone be out there and be unfairly maligned by distorting all this stuff...I don't think he's antisemitic at all," he said. "I'm not leaving anyone on the battlefield undefended."
Fine will be resigning from his Senate seat on March 31 to pursue a vacant congressional seat. Having handily won his primary in late January, the Republican firebrand is expected to win the red-tilted District 6 during the April 1 special election.
