Gov. Ron DeSantis lambasted the Florida House of Representatives Tuesday in a series of attacks for, in his view, undoing conservative reforms on higher education and continued targeting of his wife's Hope Florida Foundation, which has come under scrutiny from lawmakers in recent days.
Gov. DeSantis wasted little time attacking the House, calling the chamber "rotten" out of the gate at a press conference in Pensacola.
"This is the least productive Florida House of Representatives in the modern history of the Florida Republican Party, even though we have on paper the biggest majority in history," DeSantis said.
In particular, DeSantis criticized Rep. Michelle Salzman (R-Escambia County) for sponsoring a bill that would strip the governor of communications involving potential university presidents, some of whom, in his mind, might push a liberal agenda onto its students.
"What this bill does, House Bill 1321, it removes the ability of us to ensure we are holding universities accountable," DeSantis said.
He also ridiculed Rep. Salzman for co-sponsoring the bill with Rep. Anna Eskmani (D-Orlando), one of the chamber's more progressive members. However, DeSantis wondered if the bill's marching orders were coming from Republican House Speaker Daniel "Danny" Perez and not Salzman herself.
"They are behaving more like Democrats. They are colluding with the left. They are colluding with the media to try and sabotage all the great success that Florida has had over these last six years," DeSantis said.
The House has an almost 3-to-1 Republican supermajority.
DeSantis also continued criticizing the House for trying to "smear" his wife Casey DeSantis's Hope Florida Foundation.
The non-profit initiative founded by Casey DeSantis aims to help Floridians get off government assistance by connecting them with community resources. The DeSantises say it has helped 30,000 Floridians and saved the state $100 million.
"You got a cabal of them in the leadership. They are colluding with the liberal media and the Democratic Party in Florida to try to manufacture smears against Hope Florida, against me, against the First Lady," Desantis said.
The Hope Florida Foundation first came under criticism after the Tampa Bay Times reported it had not filed any of its tax information. It has also come under question over a $10 million payment from the state's healthcare agency.
DeSantis added that the House's continuing smear campaign of Hope Florida was diverting legislative attention away from issues affecting everyday Floridians.
"To have Republicans in the Florida House leadership colluding with these people, when they're doing that and they're not cutting your property taxes, they're not fixing the condo crisis, they're not doing the thing that voters want them to do, make no mistake about that. They are stabbing you in the back. They are refusing to do their jobs," DeSantis continued.
